Merry Emotional Christmas
by Svinorita
Summary: It's Christmas time and Riley's Emotions are getting into the festive season! But with only days to go until Christmas Day, can they manage to put their differences aside and get everything ready in time? With all the decorating, food and presents still to be organized, can the magic of Christmas help bring them closer together as a family? (CHRISTMAS REQUEST BY ORANGEBIRD124)
1. 5 Days till Christmas

**Hello again everybody! Svinorita here and since the Christmas holidays are coming up fast, I wanted to help bring some holiday cheer and spirit by writing this Inside Out Christmas Special requested by Orangebird124!**

 **I hope you all enjoy this little Christmas story and have fun with Riley's Emotions as they experience all the highs and lows of the holiday season and learn to appreciate the true meaning of friendship and family during this magical time of the year!**

 **Before I get started, I'd just like to point out that over the next month or so I would like to concentrate on finishing this story (hopefully before Christmas!) and also work on my Halloween story "The Curse of the Were-Disgust" because it is seriously overdue for an update! So I'm going to have to put my other stories on hold for a while because I would like to rotate between these two until they are both finished and then I'll get back to "One Summer of Joy" and "Secrets of an Emotional Mind" :)**

 **That's all I wanted to mention for now, so let's all get into the Christmas spirit and celebrate with Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger as the countdown to Christmas begins...**

 **Svinorita**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – 5 Days till Christmas…**

It was less than a week until Christmas and inside the mind of 12 year old Riley Andersen, Headquarters was in a state of organized chaos! Christmas Day was approaching rapidly and there were still so many preparations to be done…

Anger and Joy were busy decorating the Christmas tree together, which was a bit of a challenge because the stepladder wasn't tall enough to reach all the way to the top of the tree. As a result Anger, who had stubbornly taken possession of the Christmas Star was beginning to lose his temper because he couldn't reach high enough to put the tree topper in place!

As the grumpy red Emotion let fly with some colorful language, Joy rushed around the base of the tree, stringing the Christmas lights and hanging baubles simultaneously.

Her blue eyes were filled with urgency as she ran laps around the tree, laying out the Christmas lights as she went. "Oh why did we wait so long?! Riley and her parents had put their tree up several weeks ago!" She fretted anxiously.

In her frenzied attempt to decorate the tree, Joy wound up getting herself tangled in the Christmas lights. Unfortunately, in her desperate struggle to free herself, she accidentally bumped into Anger on the stepladder.

"Joy! Will you calm down already?! You're making me mad!" Anger shouted as he steadied himself on the ladder and fixed his yellow co-worker with a withering scowl.

"If I fall off this ladder because of you, you'll be sorry!" The red Emotion grumbled warningly.

As if to prove how serious he was, a few sparks ignited on top of his head and smoldered menacingly as Joy finally untangled herself from the lights and looked up at her red colleague with a nervous grin.

She mumbled an apology to her fiery friend and quickly busied herself with hanging up baubles and other ornaments on the opposite side of the tree (as far away from Anger's sizzling head as she could get just in case he decided to follow through with his threat!)

Meanwhile, Fear was decorating the doorframes and windows overlooking the Islands of Personality with gold and silver tinsel. As he worked, his every move was being carefully scrutinized by Disgust, who had just finished painting her toenails and consequently found herself confined to the sofa while she waited for the shiny pink nail polish to dry.

But just because she couldn't actively join in with the decorating, doesn't mean that Disgust was resigned to watching the action from the sidelines! The green Emotion kept one eye on the monitor and Riley's activities, whilst simultaneously letting her input be felt as she offered _helpful_ tips to her busy co-workers.

"Fear, why don't you use some of this trendy green and red tinsel instead?" Disgust insisted as she studied her purple colleague's work with a frown of disapproval.

"That bland gold and silver stuff is so old fashioned!" She commented tartly, the corner of her mouth turning up in distaste. "I think green and red would really help capture the essence of Christmas!"

Fear threw down the tinsel with a growl of irritation. He turned around and glared crossly at Disgust. "Well why don't you do it yourself if you know everything?!"

Disgust just flicked a strand of hair out of her face nonchalantly and turned her head to the side. "I would if I could, but someone needs to keep an eye on Riley around here!" She stated matter-of-factly.

Before Fear could respond, Sadness walked in from the break room carrying a box of Christmas stockings. Each Emotion had their own stocking that matched their color and every year at Christmas, they liked to hang them up around the console and leave little gifts for one another inside!

Sadness stopped in front of the console and put the box down with a grunt. "Is it okay if I put these up now?" She asked in her soft, melancholy voice as she looked up at the others timidly.

Fear felt a teasing smile creep across his face. "Of course! Just make sure you don't hang them too high Sadness, otherwise you and Anger might not be able to reach into them!"

From over at the Christmas tree, Anger scoffed on his stepladder. "Ha, ha Beanpole!" He retorted sarcastically.

Suddenly his amber-colored eyes lit up deviously and he flashed a wicked grin at his purple co-worker. "Maybe I should string that tinsel around your neck and turn _you_ into a living Christmas ornament!"

Sadness gave a despondent sigh from the console as she listened to the boys' bickering. "Come on you guys! It's almost Christmas! This should be a time for love and sharing…a time to put all our differences aside and be nice to each other."

The blue Emotion took a shuddering breath and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "But I don't know if I'm ever going to see that around here…" She sobbed despairingly.

Sadness trailed off and covered her face with her hands as she let the tears flow freely.

All the other Emotions watched her with a sense of guilt, her words making them momentarily stop their tasks and think about the simple message she was trying to convey to them.

Finally Joy was the first to offer a response as she gave her blue co-worker a sad smile and replied gently, "Well Sadness, I promise you that we will make it work this Christmas!"

She passed another bauble up to Anger and continued in a reassuring voice. "This year we are all going to put our differences aside and try to be best buddies no matter what!"

From the sofa, Disgust rolled her eyes unconvincingly.

 _Sure! Like that will ever happen…_

Then the green Emotion turned her attention back to Sadness, who had started taking the Christmas stockings out of the box. "By the way Sadness, I hope you're putting those stockings in the right order." She informed sassily.

The order in which the Christmas stockings were hung up was quite a big deal. The Emotions had a long-standing tradition that come Christmas Day, the order in which the stockings were hung dictated who got to open their presents first! In other words, no one wanted their stocking to be the last in line…

Sadness was just about to start hanging the stockings around the edge of the console, when Disgust's remark made her stop and look up at her green co-worker with uncertainty.

Disgust gave her a confident smile and explained simply, "I mean we all know that the Christmas tree is the main feature of Christmas right? And since Christmas trees tend to be _green,_ I think it's only fitting that you should hang the green stocking first!"

Anger snorted loudly from his stepladder. "Says who?! Isn't the main feature of Christmas Santa Claus? And can you tell me what color his suit is?"

The grumpy Emotion jumped down from the ladder and took a few menacing steps towards his green co-worker. His eyes flashed with defiance as he pointed to himself and declared proudly, "I think the _red_ stocking should be first!"

Disgust narrowed her eye in challenge and was about to oppose her hot-headed colleague when Joy broke in with her cheerful, sing-song voice.

"Uh excuse me guys! Have you forgotten about the yellow star on top of the Christmas tree? After all, that star is meant to show people the place where Jesus was born…"

Joy trailed off and got a thoughtful look in her eye. "At least I think that's what it stands for…" She muttered as she scratched her head ponderingly.

Sadness was looking at her yellow co-worker questioningly. "Huh? So you want me to hang up the yellow stocking first then?" She inquired somberly.

From over by the window, Fear sighed miserably as he finished putting up the tinsel. "Oh wonderful! It's just as I thought…"

He looked at Sadness sympathetically. "It looks like there's nothing Christmassy associated with the colors purple or blue! So I guess that means my and Sadness' stockings should be last again this year…"

He glanced down at the floor and mumbled to himself flatly, "Just like every year since Riley's first Christmas…"

Suddenly, Disgust's shrill voice interrupted everyone's thoughts.

"Shush guys! This sounds really interesting…!" She announced as she pointed to the monitor excitedly.

The others all turned and stared at the screen in confusion.

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong with Riley?" Sadness asked worriedly, her voice beginning to quiver as she fought back a strong urge to cry.

Disgust shook her head, her green eyes glued to the screen as she replied quickly, "Oh not at all! She's just skyping with Meg on her laptop…"

She reached for a button on the console and turned up the volume so the Emotions could hear Riley's voice very clearly.

"Now just be quiet and listen!" Disgust instructed the others firmly.

All the Emotions gathered around the console and listened to Riley's conversation with Meg in rapt silence.

"Oh Meg, it's so good to see you again!" Riley smiled down at her laptop as she greeted her best friend from Minnesota excitedly.

"Have you completed your Christmas shopping yet?" She asked cheerfully.

From the computer screen, Meg gave an enormous sigh. "Far from it my girl! Mom and I have been to the mall practically every day for weeks now!"

All of a sudden, Meg's voice took on an excited note as she leaned towards the computer screen and whispered, "And I have just discovered something new about myself recently…"

She gave a little squeal of delight and exclaimed loudly, "For the first time in my life, I actually enjoy shopping! I have become like seriously addicted to it!"

A huge smile appeared on Riley's face as she nodded at her friend and confessed with equal enthusiasm, "Funny you should mention that Meg! I never liked shopping much before either, but lately I just can't get enough of it! It almost feels like a switch has been flipped in my head or something and I get so excited just thinking about buying nice things!"

Riley took a deep breath and began listing off some of her favorite commodities excitedly as Meg nodded in agreement at the mention of each item.

"I mean seriously! Clothes! Bags! Shoes! Books! CDs! DVDs! The thrill of buying something new and taking it home to admire…"

Riley gasped and stared at her friend in wide-eyed wonder. "What's happening to us Meg?!"

On the screen, Meg burst out laughing at Riley's awestruck expression. "Well my dear friend, I guess we are getting older!" She snorted as she struggled to keep a straight face.

"And everyone knows that teenage girls love shopping!" She concluded with an innocent shrug.

Back inside Headquarters, Disgust turned the volume knob back down as she gave her co-workers a look of extreme satisfaction.

"You heard what Meg said, and I think the same goes for Emotions too!"

She smiled broadly and exclaimed, "Because I personally love shopping as well!"

Disgust got a dreamy look in her eye and her voice filled with longing as she wondered out loud, "I just wish we had some more variety in here! You know what I'm saying? I already know every nook and cranny of Fashion Island and I think it would be really nice if we had more shopping choices available to us!"

Joy nodded slowly as Disgust's words struck a chord with her. "You're right Disgust! That does sound nice…" She agreed eagerly.

Sadness, Fear and Anger all rolled their eyes in disinterest as Disgust and Joy got into a passionate discussion about how great having more retail options at their disposal would be.

Suddenly a low rumbling sound interrupted everyone's thoughts and Headquarters began to shake as if a mild earthquake had just occurred in the Mind World.

Fear shrieked in alarm and dove behind the console as the other Emotions exchanged worried looks with one another. A few memory orbs rolled off the Short Term shelves and clattered to the floor noisily.

Then just as suddenly as it had begun, the tremors subsided and an eerie silence descended over the room.

After a few seconds, a brand new Core Memory rolled into Headquarters. Disgust's eyes widened in revelation as she noted the coloring of the orb as it rolled down a transparent tube and came to a stop in the Central Memory Holder alongside all the other important memories that shaped Riley's personality.

"It's green and yellow…" Disgust uttered in a stunned whisper.

Fear peeked cautiously from over the edge of the console, his voice shaking with panic as he stuttered nervously, "A new Core memory?! Wait! Does that mean…"

Disgust and Joy shared a quick look of understanding as they both ran to the window, their hearts racing from anticipation.

Once there, both Emotions gasped in wonder as they saw that the yellow and green Core Memory had triggered the creation of a brand new Island of Personality in Riley's Mind!

Disgust let out a high-pitched squeal of elation as she pressed her hands against the glass and stared in astonishment at the new Island that had formed right beside Fashion Island.

"I don't believe it! Hey guys come quick and check this out!" The green Emotion uttered in awe as the others slowly approached the window.

Joy was dancing from exhilaration beside her, an expression of pure delight showing on her face as she exclaimed, "We have a new Island! Oh, could it be what I think it is…!"

As if in answer to Joy's query, a massive banner rose above the new Island, the big bold lettering arousing a mixed chorus of gasps from the five watching Emotions:

" **The Grand Opening of Shopping Island!"**

From their high vantage point inside Headquarters, the Emotions could easily make out hundreds of escalators crisscrossing the entire width and length of the Island. Huge multi-level glass buildings dominated its center while smaller departments lay scattered around the Island's periphery.

Anger shot a curious glance at Disgust, who was still spellbound by the amazing sight outside the window and cleared his throat gruffly.

"I don't suppose you had something to do with this Disgust?" He pointed roughly at the Central Memory Holder with the new green and yellow Core Memory inside and grumbled, "Perhaps you could explain the meaning of that?"

Eventually, Disgust managed to peel her gaze away from Shopping Island, her lips turning up in a sly smirk as she addressed her fuming red co-worker smugly.

"Well I guess Riley and I think alike! You heard what she said to Meg before about developing a strong interest in shopping!"

A look of extreme self-satisfaction appeared on the green Emotion's face, as she folded her arms over her chest and declared loftily, "Sure. I _may_ have influenced and encouraged her new-found passion to a point…"

She threw a quick glance at Joy and winked knowingly at her yellow co-worker. "But I certainly don't deserve to take _all_ of the credit!"

Joy smiled back happily and gave her the thumbs-up sign.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter how the Core Memory was created! The main thing is that we now have a whole new Island dedicated to shopping!" Disgust stated proudly.

Her emerald-green eyes suddenly became distant and full of yearning. "I guess dreams really can come true!"

"This right here…" She pointed out the window at the new Island, "Has made not only my day, but my Christmas and my whole year as well!"

Disgust looked over at Sadness and flashed her a genuine heart-felt smile. "You wanted all of us to be nice to each other this Christmas? Well let me show you just how generous I can be! Sadness, feel free to hang up my stocking last!"

Sadness shot her green co-worker a quizzical look. "Are you sure…?"

Disgust nodded enthusiastically, her smile growing even broader as she assured, "Yes! This fantastic new Shopping Island is the greatest gift I could ever have asked for…so I really don't mind if my stocking goes last!"

Joy jumped up and down on the spot and cheered from unbridled exhilaration. "That's the spirit! Now let's hurry up and get these decorations finished because there is still so much to do!"

Laughing enormously, she gathered everyone into a massive group hug and declared, "Tomorrow we will organize the food and who's going to cook what…"

She squeezed her friends tightly before adding ecstatically, "And after that, we can all go and check out this amazing new Island and do some shopping!"


	2. 4 Days till Christmas

**Chapter 2 – 4 Days till Christmas...**

Early the next morning, the Emotions all felt a huge sense of achievement as they gathered in the main room to admire their tireless work from yesterday. By coming together as a team, they had transformed Headquarters into a mini Christmas kingdom that resembled something straight out of a fairytale!

The tree was beautifully decorated with colorful baubles and a multitude of other ornaments, the Christmas lights twinkling like tiny stars caught in the dense green branches. In addition to having their own Christmas stockings, each Emotion also had their own personalized Christmas bauble in their color with symbols that reflected their individual personalities painted in the centers.

Joy's was bright yellow and covered with sparkly stars, whereas Sadness' was a deep noble blue with a picture of a raincloud in the middle. Anger's was red with a blazing flame pattern raging across the bauble's surface. Disgust had apparently drawn inspiration from her favorite dress when she had painted her emerald green bauble as it was decorated in the same unusual flowery pattern. Fear's was just a simple violet-colored orb with a spiral shape in the middle that resembled the curly axon on top of his head.

Usually, Sadness tended to hang her bauble towards the back of the tree at the very bottom, whilst the other Emotions jostled for a prime position in the middle. But this year Joy had promised them that they were going to do things a little differently and that they would strive to make this the happiest and fairest Christmas ever!

So in the end it was unanimously decided that Sadness' bauble was going right in the middle of the tree. The other Emotions had all spontaneously agreed that she is going to be the heart of this year's Christmas!

It was Fear who had reminded them all of how selfless their blue co-worker was and how she tended to put everyone else before herself...

So after reaching a silent agreement, they all decided that Sadness is going to be the Belle of this Christmas Ball!

That was how Sadness' blue raincloud bauble came to occupy the heart of the Christmas tree this year! Joy placed her own starry bauble above her blue colleague's. After all, she was still the happy shining star of Headquarters as well as Riley's Lead Emotion!

Fear's purple bauble was placed to the left of Sadness' while Anger's went on the right. It was almost as if the boys were forming a ring of protection around their blue co-worker!

But it was Disgust who surprised everybody the most by agreeing to put her bauble at the bottom of the tree! It turns out that she was feeling so generous after the creation of Shopping Island that she really didn't mind! The green Emotion already knew deep down that she would reap the rewards of this new Island more than the others, so by the time they had finished decorating, she was already so happy that it really didn't matter if her bauble was at the bottom of the tree!

Aside from the tree, there were glittery paper snowflakes stuck on the windows at the back of Headquarters along with green and red streamers and tinsel hanging from the ceiling and doorways. Over by the reading section of the room near the Mind Manuals, there was even a fake Santa Claus (which turned out to have a rather striking resemblance to Anger!) sitting on a tiny sleigh surrounded by reindeer and elves.

Over at the console, the Emotions' stockings were all in place (leading with Sadness', followed by Fear's, Joy's and Anger's with Disgust's hanging last as had been agreed upon.)

As Sadness stood beside her co-workers and admired the decorations, she felt a warm glow inside her heart. Everywhere she looked, she saw goodwill and teamwork!

 _Maybe we can all get along and be a true family this year…_ she thought to herself longingly.

Joy stood with her hands on her hips and a huge smile of satisfaction on her face. Her blue eyes shone with pride as she remarked, "See guys? Look at what we can create when we all work together! Isn't it magical?"

The others nodded and mumbled in agreement as they all admired their handiwork.

"But last night after all of you had gone to bed, I decided to stay up a little longer and add something extra…" Joy announced excitedly, her smile growing wider as the other Emotions turned and looked at her quizzically.

Joy glanced at Sadness optimistically before continuing in an upbeat tone. "I just wanted to remind us all of what we're striving for this Christmas: unity and friendship! After all, we are like one big happy family…"

She trailed off and scratched her head thoughtfully. "…Well perhaps not so big…"

"But Christmas is all about making wishes come true and this year we are going to fulfil Sadness' request!" Joy declared enthusiastically.

She pointed to a large banner hanging directly overhead with a cheerful "Ta Da!"

The others all looked up at the banner curiously. Written in sparkly gold paint, was the message: _**ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!**_

This announcement triggered a varied response from Joy's co-workers. Fear was scratching the back of his head uncertainly while from beside him, Anger smoldered grumpily. Disgust had a petulant smirk on her face and Sadness was cleaning her glasses with a piece of cloth absently.

Joy however was unperturbed by their lack of enthusiasm. With a final nod of approval, she stated happily, "Okeydokey! That's what I'm talking about! Now where was I…?"

After a moment's reflection, her eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh, that's right! I think I was commenting on how magical our decorations look!"

Anger couldn't prevent a small smile of admiration from appearing on his lips as he admitted gruffly, "Huh! I never thought I'd say this, but we sure did a great job together!"

Sadness, Fear and Disgust all nodded silently in agreement.

"Okay! We can cross the Christmas decorating off the list!" Joy lilted as she addressed her co-workers with a massive smile. "Now let's sort out the food preparations…"

Laughing with delight, she started singing "Food, Glorious Food…" enthusiastically while the other Emotions looked on in bemusement.

"So who's going to make what?" Joy sang cheerfully as continued dancing around her perplexed audience.

After a few moments of contemplative silence, Anger stepped forward with a confident grin of his face. "Well I could offer to grill up some mouth-watering steaks with my famous spicy relish. Heck, I'll even whip up some bean salad on the side!"

He glanced eagerly at his co-workers. Already the prospect of eating steak was making the red Emotion excited as his eyes had taken on a hungry look and he was rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Fear on the other hand, was looking decidedly less eager about Anger's offer. His face had suddenly turned pale and he kept swallowing as if he were struggling to hold back a wave of nausea.

 _Steak! Who would want to eat steak for Christmas?!_ The very thought of eating a heavy meal like that made his stomach churn. He preferred his meals light and sparse, with plenty of soothing tea to wash it down with and aid digestion…

Disgust didn't look too thrilled with Anger's offer either. The corner of her mouth was turned up distastefully and she kept scrunching up her face as though the smell of grilled meat made her want to barf.

Sadness and Joy however didn't seem to mind all that much. The yellow and blue Emotions exchanged a quick look and shrugged in acceptance.

"Very well Anger…" Joy replied in the same chirpy tone as before. "You may prepare some steak if you wish. After all, it's Christmas and everyone should be able to enjoy whatever food they like!"

She regarded her red co-worker with a friendly smile before adding hopefully, "Is there anything else you want to cook besides your steaks and bean salad?"

Anger's brow furrowed in concentration as he tapped his finger against his chin thoughtfully. Finally, he gave a devious chuckle and answered in a low rumbling voice, "I guess I could also offer to do the Christmas ham…"

He shot a taunting glance at Disgust before stating, "That is, if Disgust agrees to make the glaze for it!"

Disgust was slightly taken aback by this unexpected request. But through sheer willpower, she managed to keep her expression stoic…she wasn't about to give her red co-worker the gratification of knowing that he had ruffled her!

The green Emotion smiled smugly back at Anger before answering in a calm and level voice, "Yeah, I can do that! I can also make the Christmas pudding and prepare the cranberry sauce…"

Suddenly her emerald-colored eyes lit up with excitement as she turned her attention to Joy and offered eagerly, "…And if Joy agrees to help me, we can make a yummy chocolate cake for dessert!"

Joy didn't need much convincing. Nodding her head exuberantly, she replied happily, "Are you kidding?! Of course I agree! Remember that awesome chocolate cake we made together last year?!"

The yellow Emotion gave an innocent shrug and averted her eyes from those of her green co-worker. "Sure…it may have ended up a bit short on chocolate because Disgust here couldn't resist helping herself to some of it beforehand…"

Disgust narrowed her eye defiantly at her yellow colleague. Joy wasn't intimidated in slightest and with a carefree laugh she added playfully, "I'll be keeping my eye on you this time my sweet-toothed friend!"

Despite her sassy attitude, Disgust had to admit that Joy's lilting laughter _was_ quite contagious...

Pretty soon she found herself joining in as Joy gave her an enthusiastic high-five.

"That's settled then! Disgust and I will take care of dessert! And while I'm at it, I can make the potatoes as well!" The yellow Emotion declared cheerfully.

She turned her attention to Sadness, who was standing off to the side looking disinterested as usual and raised an eyebrow expectantly at her gloomy friend.

"Sadness?" Joy prompted encouragingly.

The blue Emotion met her gaze hesitantly, her voice lacking enthusiasm as she offered slowly, "Well…I guess I could roast a chicken…or two…"

Joy seemed to consider this response thoughtfully before nodding in acceptance. "Sure. You can do that Sadness…"

Then a wry smile crept across her face as she added eagerly, "…As a matter of fact, I think you should make it two! The more the merrier right?!"

Sadness looked down miserably and let out a deflated sigh. "If you say so…" She replied lazily.

Next Joy's gaze fell on Fear. The purple Emotion was looking rather uncomfortable about all this talk of food and the moment he looked up and noticed Joy's expectant expression, he felt a wave of dread wash over him.

"Fear?" Joy ventured with a reassuring smile. "What are you going to bring to the Christmas table this year?"

From beside her, Anger gave a bemused snort. "Oh this ought to be good! Here comes Beanpole: Chef Extraordinaire!"

Joy and Sadness both flashed their red co-worker a look of disapproval.

"What?" Anger scoffed irritably. He rolled his eyes at the two Emotions and shot his nervous purple co-worker a teasing smirk.

With his already low confidence suffering a serious blow from Anger, Fear gulped and averted his gaze to the floor. He was wringing his hands anxiously as he stammered, "Well…I…er…suppose I could…make a couple of iced teas…or something…"

The others waited in silence for him to say more, but it quickly became apparent the Fear was neither able nor willing to offer anything else!

Anger however, wasn't about to accept his co-worker's measly contribution without pressing the matter a little further.

"And?" He sniped curtly, taking a deliberate step towards his trembling colleague. "Is that all?"

Poor Fear looked like he was about to faint from stress. His eyes were wide and flitting around the room fretfully, his axon was wound in a very tight downwards-pointing spiral signaling his distress.

Taking a deep breath, Fear swallowed loudly and whimpered, "I guess…I could also…make some salad…?"

Thankfully, Joy piped up and saved her purple co-worker from a full-fledged panic-attack by exclaiming cheerfully, "Oh yum! You can make that delicious fruit salad…you know just like the one you made for lunch a few days ago!"

Sadness joined in with Joy's encouragement. She threw a shy glance at Fear and asked quietly, "Could you maybe make some kind of green or garden salad to go with my roast chickens Fear?"

Fear looked at them both gratefully, a tiny smile of appreciation tugging at his lips as he replied softly, "Of course I can Sadness…and thank you both for your support."

Joy smiled sweetly at her purple co-worker. Then she addressed all of them cheerfully, her voice full of exhilaration as she declared, "Great! Now that we have the food situation sorted out, let's all go down to that awesome new Shopping Island and buy the ingredients we need to make the best Christmas feast ever!"

Disgust nodded excitedly in agreement. "Yes let's do that! And when we're all done with that, I would like to stay there and pick out some presents for you guys!"

With that, the Emotions spent the rest of the day going down to Shopping Island in groups of two or three, (since they couldn't all go at once and leave the console unattended!) Disgust was particularly excited to check out the new Island and once she got there, she was definitely not disappointed by the limitless retail options this place had to offer!

It wasn't until they were down there, that the Emotions realized just how massive Shopping Island really was! Sure it looked impressive from the back window of Headquarters, but the sheer scale of it up close was mind-blowing! The central shopping complex was one huge maze of aisles and escalators, with stores selling everything from high-end fashion right through to discount goods stretching out for miles!

There were fast food stands, beauty salons, grocery stores and specialist retailers offering everything anyone could possible need at reasonable prices _(* don't ask me what they use for currency in the Mind World, I don't know!*)_ as well as no shortage of miscellaneous items that didn't have any apparent uses!

Whatever the Emotions could possibly need for Christmas, Shopping Island had it all!

By the end of the day, everyone had gathered all the food supplies they needed to prepare their Christmas meals. The last Emotion to arrive back at Headquarters was Sadness with her two chickens, as she shuffled tiredly into the main room carrying a ready-to-roast chicken under each arm.

When the others asked her why it had taken her so long to return, the blue Emotion explained wearily how she'd gotten lost a few times and this in turn had led to her feeling overwhelmed and sad. As a result she needed to keep stopping along the way to rest...

After putting all the food into the fridge and pantry, Anger, Fear and Sadness collapsed onto the sofa with their feet up. Within minutes, all three were snoring as they drifted off to sleep side by side.

Meanwhile, Joy and Disgust were standing by the window, talking in hushed voices as they made a secret pact. Tomorrow they decided that they would go shopping together for Christmas presents for their co-workers.

Joy was laughing so hard that she started to snort loudly and Disgust had to raise a finger to her lips to hush her. The green Emotion shot a nervous glance over her shoulder at the three Emotions on the sofa but to her immense relief, she discovered they were still sound asleep.

Then she looked back at Joy and stifled a giggle of excitement of her own.

"I think that some Emotions around here are going to be quite surprised with their gifts on Christmas morning…" Disgust whispered deviously as she and Joy entwined their pinkie fingers in a silent promise.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Now I bet many of you are wondering how the Emotions can organize their Christmas so quickly. Well it certainly helps that there are five of them to prepare the meals and each one only has to buy gifts for 4 other Emotions!**

 **If only things were that simple in our world! I hear that many people end up suffering from the Christmas Blues… all that running around and last minute shopping! Then the big day comes and you wind up stressing about everything turning out perfect…**

 **Anyway, I'll leave you now to do some of your own Christmas preparations while I go and treat the followers of the Halloween story "The Curse of the Were-Disgust" to a new chapter. After that, I'll be back with an update for this story as I guess you're all curious to find out what gifts some of the Emotions will receive?**

 **Before I end this note, I'd like to thank everybody who has read and reviewed the first chapter of this story and also thank you to all those who have added it to their favorites/follows!**

 **Orangebird124 - It is my pleasure to write this Christmas request for you and I am so glad you like it so far :)**

 **HollyAnne1084 - Thank you for being the first to review and Merry Christmas to you too :)**

 **Tripledent – Did something about the Emotions having personalized baubles sound familiar to you? That was an excellent idea that you suggested in your review and I decided to incorporate it into the chapter! Also I am honored that you think my work ethic reminds you of Seth Macfarlane! I really do love his sense of humor and I never would have thought my writing is anywhere near as creative as that :)**

 **Bye for now and I hope to see you all in my next update!**

 **Svinorita.**


	3. 3 Days till Christmas

**Chapter 3 – 3 Days till Christmas…**

The Emotions had their Christmas preparations well under way. Headquarters was all decorated and looking magical. All the food required to make the perfect Christmas feast had been carefully stored in the fridge and pantry, ready for cooking on the big day. Now there was only one more thing that needed to be sorted out before the Emotions were officially done with their Christmas prepping for another year…

It was time for everyone to start thinking about what kind of presents they were going to get for one another!

At least the creation of Shopping Island presented them with far more gift opportunities than they ever had access to in all of Riley's previous Christmases!

And no one was more excited about the endless gift choices Shopping Island had to offer than Disgust!

Every morning since the new Island's creation, Disgust was the first out of bed and she wasted no time in going down there to do some gift hunting for her co-workers. Once there, she could spend hours engrossed in one of her favorite pastimes. In fact, she had even developed a new mantra to get herself mentally prepared for the busy day of shopping that lay ahead of her:

" _So many shops, so little time!"_

This morning was no exception. Disgust woke up at the break of dawn and jumped out of bed full of anticipation about the exciting purchases today would yield! She only spent a mere two hours getting ready (in oppose to her usual 3-4 hour morning routine!)

Once she was dressed, smelling good and had all her makeup in place, she headed to the Recall Tube before the others were fully awake.

Well everyone that is except for Joy.

Last night Joy and Disgust had made a promise that they would spend today buying presents for their co-workers together. Therefore this morning as Disgust descended the ramp into the main room and hurried towards the Recall Tube, she found Joy already waiting for her with a huge smile of excitement on her face.

"Good morning Disgust! Are you ready to help me fill those Christmas stockings with the greatest gifts ever?!" The yellow Emotion greeted her green co-worker cheerfully.

"I could really use your shopping expertize! Knowing me, I'd probably end up buying an accordion for everyone!"

She began bouncing up and down on the spot from enthusiasm as Disgust came up to her. "Oh I'm super excited! Today is going to be so awesome!" Joy squealed with exhilaration.

Disgust pulled a face at her friend's over-exuberance. But at the same time, she felt a small smile of excitement tug at her own lips. She gave her yellow companion a curt nod and replied, "Sure thing Joy! I've got a good feeling about today too. Now let's go do some shopping!"

With that, the two Emotions stepped into the Recall Tube together, their delighted laugher trailing behind them as the suction pulled them out of Headquarters.

XXX

The other three Emotions were all a little slow out of the gates. None of them was particularly excited about shopping, so for them it was business as usual this morning. After waking up and getting dressed, Fear went down to the kitchen to make his first cup of tea for the day, while Anger sat on the couch in front of the console and read his newspaper.

Sadness was the last to get out of bed as usual. After having her breakfast, she wandered around Headquarters aimlessly and admired the Christmas decorations. In no time, she found herself moved to tears by the beauty surrounding her.

All of a sudden, the tears of admiration were replaced with tears of sorrow as Sadness remembered hearing how so many people in the world don't have the opportunity to enjoy Christmas Day. She had seen countless news stories while Riley was watching TV, about the overwhelming number of people who are either poor or homeless, as well as those who are forced to live far away from their families.

Sadness even recalled seeing some less fortunate Mind Workers when she and Joy had been lost in the Mind World together following Riley's move to San Francisco.

As all these sad thoughts flashed through her mind, Sadness soon found herself slipping into a "sadness spiral" and without warning, she started bawling loudly.

Over at the sofa, Anger looked up from his newspaper with a deep frown. But instead of losing his temper like he normally would and shouting at Sadness for crying too loudly, the red Emotion's expression softened with pity.

He put his paper aside and fixed his weeping co-worker with a concerned look. "Hey what's wrong Kiddo? Why are you crying?" He inquired gently.

Sadness sniffled and looked up at him curiously. Anger gave her a reassuring smile and patted the seat beside him. "Come and sit next to me…"

Sadness hesitated. Then she sighed gloomily and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before walking over to the couch and climbing up beside Anger.

"There. Now tell me what's making you feel blue…" Anger started to say then grunted sheepishly as he realized his unintended pun. "I mean…down! What's making you feel down Kid?"

Before she could answer, Anger glanced over his shoulder and demanded gruffly, "Fear! Make us some tea!"

"Actually do you know how to make coffee? Make mine a coffee Beanpole!" He specified brashly.

From inside the kitchen, Fear rolled his eyes and grumbled something under his breath irritably. Then he scratched his head and muttered, "Coffee? I'm sure I can do that…I mean how hard could it be right?"

Fear started commentating out loud as he went about making Anger's coffee. "Let's see…you start with instant coffee and boiling water…add a bit of milk…hmmm…are you supposed to put sugar or honey in it…?"

Fear poured a tiny amount of coffee into a separate cup. Then he added sugar to one cup and some honey into the other one before taking a tentative sip of both. As soon as he tasted the coffee mixed with honey, he gaged and stuck his tongue out in distaste.

"Okay…definitely sugar! Not honey…!" He concluded as he stirred the cup containing the coffee and sugar blend and placed it on a serving tray alongside two cups of tea.

After Fear had finished making the tea (and coffee for Anger) he joined the other two Emotions on the sofa. As the three of them drank their warm beverages in silence, Sadness looked at her two co-workers with a baffled expression on her face.

 _What is happening? Everyone is being so nice to each other lately…_

But the longer she thought about it, she realized that she was witnessing her Christmas wish coming true this year!

 _I just wanted all of us to get along and be like a family this Christmas and now it's actually happening! Maybe there really is some kind of magic in Christmas…_ Sadness wondered as she gave a tiny smile of contentment and took another sip of her tea.

After a while, Sadness decided to go shopping by herself. She wanted to try and find some nice presents for everybody and hopefully get all her Christmas shopping done by today! All those crowds and browsing through so many different stores made her really tired and she figured that the sooner she went, the sooner she'd be back.

Then she could lay on the floor and obsess over life's problems as much as she wanted to…

While all the girls were down on Shopping Island, Anger and Fear were left in charge of the console and the task of watching over Riley until they returned.

With only Anger to keep him company in Headquarters, Fear was understandably apprehensive and he spent the next two and a half hours doing his best to avoid ending up on the wrong side of his volatile co-worker's temper. So while Anger took charge at the console, Fear looked for any excuse to be as far from the line of fire as possible!

After washing and putting away the dishes from breakfast, the purple Emotion went up to his bedroom and ran through his daily list of potential disasters that Riley might encounter today. Once he was satisfied that he had an emergency action plan in place for any possible dangerous situation covered, Fear returned to the main room and checked over all the recently formed memories sitting on the short term shelves.

As he finished looking over the short term memories, Fear glanced at the clock in the corner of the room and realized that two more hours had slipped by since Sadness had left to go shopping on her own.

 _Huh? That's strange…Sadness should have returned to Headquarters by now_ … Fear thought to himself with mounting concern over his blue co-worker's prolonged absence.

He shot a nervous glance at Anger, who was sitting on the sofa reading his newspaper again.

"The girls sure have been gone for a long time now…don't get me wrong…I'm not really worried about Joy and Disgust. Those two are probably so preoccupied with shopping that they lost track of the time…" Fear ventured anxiously.

Anger looked up from his paper and regarded his nervous co-worker impatiently. "And? What exactly are you getting at Beanpole?"

Fear gulped nervously as he sensed Anger's mood heating up. But he bit his tongue and went on regardless, "It's just that Sadness has been gone for a while now and that's really not like her…"

"Do you think maybe one of us should go and look for her…?" He suggested timidly.

Anger waved off his co-worker's concern and huffed indifferently. "Oh she probably got lost like she did the other day. Or maybe she's fallen asleep on a bench somewhere…"

Fear looked away uncertainly. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong but at the same time, he really didn't want to provoke Anger's temper and wind up being used as a punching bag!

In the end, he gave a resigned sigh and mumbled, "Yeah…you're right…I…I guess…? Forget I said anything…"

To his surprise, Anger grunted and got up from the sofa. "Fine! You stay here while I go look for her."

"Wha…?" Fear gasped in disbelief as Anger waddled past him and headed towards the Recall Tube.

The red Emotion stopped in front of the Tube and snickered to himself. Without looking back at his flustered co-worker, he mumbled, "If you go instead of me, you'd probably end up getting lost too and then I'd need to find both of you!"

Just then, they heard a loud whistle outside as the Train of Thought pulled up at Headquarters. The two Emotions stared in bemusement as the door leading from the loading zone opened and Joy and Disgust burst into the room giggling and talking excitedly.

Both Emotions had an excessive amount of shopping bags and packages with them (probably the reason why they'd needed to catch the Train of Thought back home in the first place, as both Anger and Fear doubted that they would have been able to squeeze all that stuff into the narrow Recall Tube!)

"That was awesome! I could stay down there all day!" Joy laughed happily as she waved to the Train Conductor and lugged her shopping bags and boxes into the room.

Disgust followed closely behind her with her own bags in tow. "So could I! Shopping Island is the best thing that has happened in Riley's mind since she moved to San Francisco! Fashion Island doesn't even come close!"

Without bothering to acknowledge the confused looks she received from the boys, Disgust made her way towards the ramp with her shopping bags and boxes. "But all that shopping has made me pretty tired…as soon as I'm done wrapping up these presents, I need to catch up on some much needed beauty sleep!"

As Disgust disappeared up the ramp and into her room with her gifts for her co-workers, Joy turned her attention to Fear and Anger and fixed them with a radiant smile.

"Oh guys! Just wait until you see the presents we got for you!" She announced proudly.

Anger rolled his eyes sarcastically, his expression seeming to say: _Oooh…I can't wait…_

Fear offered his yellow co-worker a nervous smile. Then he took a step towards her, his gray eyes searching her face hopefully as he asked, "Hey Joy? Did you and Disgust happen to see Sadness out there? She's been gone for hours now!"

Joy's smile melted and her expression became serious as she learned of Sadness' uncharacteristic absence. "Really? Well I'd better go and look for her then!" She declared, putting her shopping bags aside as she turned around and started to enter the Recall Tube.

But before she could step inside, she felt Anger's stubby hand grab her by the arm and pull her back. The red Emotion growled irritably and shoved past her, his amber-colored eyes flashing with decisiveness as he grumbled, "No! You stay here and _I'll_ go look for her!"

He pointed to Fear and instructed, "You keep an eye on Beanpole and make sure he doesn't work himself into a panic attack!"

Before either of his co-workers could protest, Anger stepped into the Recall Tube and flew out of Headquarters.

XXX

A few minutes later, Anger found himself wandering through the bustling aisles of Shopping Island. He systematically checked every store in his immediate vicinity as he tried to locate Sadness. He couldn't figure out for the life of him how Joy and Disgust could possibly _enjoy_ the chaotic atmosphere of this place!

Everywhere he went, hordes of excited Mind Workers got in his way and bumped into him, or stepped on his toes as they carried out some Christmas shopping of their own. The noise was unbearable! Everyone was talking at once so the whole place was constantly filled with an irritating droning sound as hundreds of voices tried to shout over each other.

Within minutes of walking around this noisy crowded complex, Anger was seriously beginning to lose his cool. Stomping in frustration, his head erupted in flames like a miniature volcano and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "SADNESS! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD KID, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

To his dismay, Anger quickly discovered that no matter how loud and demanding his voice was, it made no difference down here amidst this bustling hive of frenzied shopping activity. A few unimpressed Mind Workers nearby shot him annoyed looks as their ears rang from the deafening volume of the grumpy Emotion's yelling. But apart from that he received no further acknowledgement from anyone else.

Certainly if Sadness herself had heard him, she made no attempt to answer his call. She didn't come running up to him suddenly and beg him to take her back home like he'd hoped she might.

Growling to himself peevishly, Anger continued his tireless search for his missing co-worker.

XXX

Finally some forty-five minutes after he had started looking for her, Anger found Sadness propped up on a bench under one of Shopping Island's countless escalators. He saw a multitude of bags and boxes wrapped in fancy gift paper scattered around her. As he drew nearer he discovered that the blue Emotion had indeed fallen asleep like he'd speculated, her head drooping down towards her chest as she snored softly.

By this point Anger was so relieved that he had found her, that he didn't even begin to steam as he touched her arm and exclaimed loudly, "Oh Sadness! There you are!"

Sadness' eyes flew open in alarm and she nearly toppled off the bench at this unexpected wake-up call.

"What?! What's happening…?! Where am I…?" She stammered in confusion.

"It's okay Kiddo. You went shopping and you fell asleep on a bench." Anger explained in a quieter voice. He rubbed his hand down her arm reassuringly and added, "But you've been gone for a long time and the rest of us were beginning to get worried about you."

Sadness gave a despondent sigh and started to apologize. "Oh Anger! I didn't mean to make everyone worry…"

She gestured to the bags and boxes around her and explained, "I just wanted to complete all my shopping today but then I became tired and sad. So I stopped here for a quick rest, but I guess I dozed off and lost track of time…"

She looked away in embarrassment. Anger offered her a gentle smile as he began picking up her shopping bags for her.

"Here, I'll help carry some of these packages for you." He said helpfully.

She gave him a surprised look and he added softly, "But first we need to revive you properly…I saw this nice-looking ice cream place as I was searching for you…"

Sadness blushed as her red co-worker turned and started heading back the way he'd come, grunting as he dragged her shopping bags behind him. With a resigned sigh, she gathered her remaining bags and walked after Anger half-heartedly.

XXX

After treating Sadness to some ice cream, Anger organized a ride back to Headquarters on the Train of Thought. The two Emotions arrived a short time later, carrying Sadness' gifts off the train as Joy waited to greet them by the loading zone.

"Ah Anger! You found her!" Joy said with a relieved smile.

Sadness looked up at her yellow co-worker guiltily. "I'm sorry for making you worry Joy. I was trying to do all my Christmas shopping in one day and I got a little overwhelmed…"

Joy nodded in understanding and gave Sadness' shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Hey, no need to apologize Sadness. We're all just glad that you're okay."

Then her expression turned serious and she looked at Anger worriedly. "By the way, is there any chance that either of you saw Fear down on Shopping Island? He left not long after you went looking for Sadness, and he's been gone for quite a while now…"

Anger ground his teeth in frustration. A few sparks ignited and started blazing on top of his head as he turned back towards the Recall Tube.

"Why that skinny little…!" Anger stomped over to the Recall Tube whilst grumbling some choice phrases about his purple co-worker under his breath.

Joy and Sadness looked at each other helplessly as they listened to Anger's heated ranting. "What am I? Santa Claus or the Search and Rescue Guy around here?! Why do I keep on having to find everybody lately?!"

Sadness gave her red co-worker a disappointed look and sighed dejectedly.

 _Does that mean all the kindness Anger showed me earlier was just an act? Did he really come looking for me because he was worried about me? Or was he just doing it because he felt he had to..?_ The blue Emotion wondered gloomily as she gave a muffled sob.

Anger noticed her distress and offered her a sincere look. "Oh hey, Sadness! I didn't mean it that way…"

"Once I find Fear, I promise to make it up to you somehow!" He whispered gently as he stepped into the Recall Tube before the other two Emotions could notice the guilty look on his face.

XXX

Anger hurried back to Shopping Island. But unlike Sadness' case, he felt pretty confident about where he was going to find Fear…

As it turns out, his gut instinct was right and after a short search, Anger located his missing co-worker. Fear was pacing around nervously in front of a store that sold tea and tea supplies. His eyes were wide with panic and he kept mumbling fitfully, "Oh boy! Where's the exit around here?! Why did I decide to come here by myself?!"

Anger tapped his foot impatiently. His arms were folded over his chest and he glowered at his purple co-worker crossly.

Despite this, Fear breathed a massive sigh of relief as soon as he noticed the grumpy red Emotion standing there.

"Anger! Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but boy am I glad to see you right now!"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Thank you to everybody for reading this chapter. I will leave the Emotions to finish their preparations in the remaining two days till Christmas…**

 **In the next chapter, you will all get to see who gets up first on Christmas morning and a few of the Emotions will finally get to open their presents!**

 **Hopefully I'll have that next chapter ready by the end of this week and then it's back to another update for "The Curse of the Were-Disgust."**

 **Thank you again to _Orangebird124_ for giving me this request and for your beautiful long review :)**

 **Thank you to _HollyAnne1084_ for your sweet review as always and I'm glad you are enjoying the LemonLime friendship in this story because I promise you there is a lot more to come :)**

 **Thank you _Tripledent_ for you lovely and constructive review! It's so unusual…some of the ideas you shared in your previous review I have already intended to use later in the story! Maybe it's the geography… :)**

 **Thank you to _LionesssQueen_! I'm always delighted to receive a review in a foreign language, and your reviews are always supportive and heartwarming! Inspiring feedback like yours reminds me why I'm writing stories in the first place :)**

 **Last but not least, thank you to all the silent readers out there for coming on this Christmas journey with me!**

 **Svinorita**


	4. Christmas Morning

**Chapter 4 – Christmas Morning**

The sun had not yet risen on this crisp Christmas morning in San Francisco. Inside the mind of Riley Andersen, her Emotions were slowly beginning to stir in their sleep. Each of them was torn between the urge to get up and face all the fun and excitement that today promised to deliver, and the more immediate pleasure of staying in their warm comfy beds for a few more hours.

But there was one Emotion who couldn't wait until sunrise to start celebrating all the happiness of this special day…

The peace and quiet in Headquarters was suddenly shattered by the sound of lively accordion music drifting up from the main room. One by one, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust opened their eyes and groaned. As they lay in their beds, listening to the music coming from downstairs, the bouncy melody was soon accompanied by an over-enthusiastic "HO! HO! HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Moments later, they all heard Joy's cheerful voice echoing throughout Headquarters as she started singing at the top of her lungs, "I wish you a Merry Christmas…I wish you a Merry Christmas…I wish you a Merry Christmas…and a yummy Christmas lunch!"

Gradually, the other Emotions assembled in the main room wearily, yawning and stretching as they joined their excited (and very noisy!) leader in front of the Christmas tree.

Joy was grinning ear-to-ear as she tossed her accordion aside and welcomed her sleepy co-workers with an ecstatic, "Good morning everyone and Merry Christmas to you all!"

Disgust wiped the sleep from her eyes and yawned loudly. "Yes Joy…you already made that **loud** and clear a few minutes ago!"

Joy's smile never faltered as she replied jovially, "Come on now guys! Where's your Christmas spirit this morning?!"

The others all groaned and mumbled under their breaths as Joy danced around them in a circle out of sheer exhilaration.

Disgust tracked her yellow co-worker's movement sluggishly. "Gee, I don't know…maybe if you'd let us sleep for another half-an-hour at least, we all might have sounded a bit more cheerful!" She protested.

The green Emotion ran her hand over her face and groaned, "I haven't even freshened up yet! My eyes feel so puffy and I bet I've got a serious case of pillow-hair!"

Without waiting for a comment, Disgust turned around and headed back up the ramp to carry out her morning beauty ritual.

Joy just shook her head dismissively at her green colleague's departing back and said, "How could any of you guys even sleep last night?! I'm so excited that I hardly shut an eye all night!"

Before any of the others could reply, Joy skipped over to the back of the tree. She laughed delightfully and brought out a plate of cookies and four glasses of milk.

"While the rest of you were still asleep, Santa decided to pay us a visit!" She put the plate of cookies and milk on the floor in front of her bemused co-workers and ran back to the tree.

As they watched her curiously, Joy held up an empty plate and glass and stated, "See? I already checked! Santa already came and finished off her milk and cookies…"

She quickly wiped the last traces of milk from around her mouth before the others could notice and pointed to the plate and glasses at their feet. "But Santa wasn't greedy! She was kind enough to leave some cookies and milk for all of you!"

" _She?"_ Anger asked with a raised eyebrow.

Joy shrugged innocently and offered, "Well I didn't get a good look you know…that reindeer sleigh was really speeding!"

"Anyway…" Joy continued in an upbeat voice, "Hurry up and eat your snacks because it's time to open the presents and I'm so excited!"

XXX

Disgust rejoined the others just as they were finishing off their cookies and milk. With everyone back together, Joy leapt up from the floor and started racing towards her Christmas stocking.

Suddenly she stopped halfway to the console, a sheepish grin on her face as she remembered that there was a new order when it came to opening the presents this year…

She turned back to the others and shrugged apologetically. "Whoops! I nearly forgot!"

Joy looked at Sadness and gave her a friendly smile. "Sadness! You're up first this year! Come and open your presents!"

Sadness sighed miserably and waddled up to her stocking still half-asleep, adjusting her glasses casually as she went.

She picked up her blue Christmas stocking, and without showing much enthusiasm, plunged her hand inside. The first thing she pulled out was a colorful little box with fancy floral designs all over it. Setting her Christmas stocking down, Sadness carefully lifted the lid off the box, where she discovered about a dozen beautiful handkerchiefs embroidered with all sorts of flower patterns inside.

Sadness gave a small smile of appreciation as she took each hankie out of the packet and examined the pretty designs up close. While she was doing this, Disgust watched her carefully.

The green Emotion was nodding in satisfaction. She cleared her throat gently and ventured, "Well do you like it Sadness? That's from yours truly!"

Sadness looked up at her green co-worker and nodded shyly. "Oh yes. They're very beautiful Disgust! Thank you!"

Disgust smiled back proudly at her. "Go on! Look into your stocking again! I have something else for you as well!" She urged her blue colleague eagerly.

Sadness put her box of handkerchiefs on the floor and did as Disgust instructed. Her fingers closed around two smaller plastic packets and she pulled them out curiously. The first packet contained a set of fruit-flavored lip gloss.

Sadness smiled and turned her attention to the other packet, which turned out to be…a box of eye drops?!

Sadness looked up at Disgust with a quizzical expression. "Uh…thanks again for the lovely gifts Disgust…"

From beside the green Emotion, Anger scowled in confusion. "What's with the eye drops? Doesn't she cry enough as it is? Her eyes are _always_ wet!" He said tartly.

Disgust rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Maybe I should have gotten some for you as well Anger! It looks like your vision needs to be cleared up too!" She snapped irritably.

She pointed to Sadness, who was still holding the packet of lip gloss and eye drops and explained, "Those drops are for soothing and clearing up the redness from her eyes after she's been crying!"

She shot an apologetic look at Sadness and shrugged. "Ah no offense Sadness! It's just that your eyes do tend to get red and puffy a lot, and I think those could really help with that!"

Sadness stared at the eye drops contemplatively. Finally she gave a deep sigh and nodded, placing Disgust's presents aside wordlessly as she prepared to reach into her stocking for the next gift.

Joy giggled excitedly as she watched her blue co-worker.

"Oh Sadness! Open mine next! You're going to love it!" She encouraged, clapping her hands with eagerness.

Sadness smiled half-heartedly at her happy co-worker and pulled out a small blue package from her stocking. She tore off the wrapping paper with a mild sense of curiosity and uncovered a beautiful glasses case. It was ink blue like the night sky with a full moon and stars painted on its surface. She opened it carefully and saw that the inside was lined with a soft blue velvety material and inscribed in cursive writing on the inside of the lid, were the words:

" _To my best friend – if I could, I would give you the moon and stars."_

Sadness closed the case and wiped a small tear from her eye. "Oh Joy! That's so beautiful, I think I might cry…"

Joy smiled at her blue co-worker reassuringly. "Oh don't cry yet Sadness! You still haven't opened my other gift! Take a look under the tree…this package is a little bit bigger so it wouldn't have fit in your Christmas stocking!"

Sadness sniffled and walked over to the Christmas tree. She rummaged through the boxes of presents underneath until she located a box wrapped in shiny gold paper with her name written on it. Sadness pulled the box out and after removing the wrapping paper, she found a pair of comfortable fluffy blue slippers inside.

Joy was beaming with delight as she explained cheerfully, "Those are to keep your little feet warm during cold winter mornings!"

Sadness took the slippers out of the box and tried them on. She liked the way the fluffy shoes felt on her feet; they were as soft and light as though she were standing on a cloud!

"Thank you Joy. I love both your gifts." She said with a little smile of appreciation.

Anger cleared his throat and stomped over to the Christmas tree. He grabbed a medium sized box covered in blue and red wrapping paper and shoved it into Sadness' arms.

"Open mine next." He grumbled in a voice that came out sounding harsher than he intended to.

Sadness stared at the present in her arms with a mixture of surprise and apprehension. She unwrapped the box gingerly while Anger stood nearby looking a little uncomfortable as he waited for her to open his gifts.

Sadness finally got all the wrapping paper off and she lifted the lid on the box with trembling fingers. Inside, she discovered a box of some of the finest assorted Belgian chocolates, as well as a beautiful porcelain mug with a picture of a love heart in the middle.

Written in the center of the love heart were the words: _My Heart is My Best Feature._

Sadness burst out in tears as she admired the beautiful gifts Anger had given her. "Thank you Anger…that was so sweet of you…" She wept, the tears flowing from her eyes like a water fountain.

Joy placed her hands on her hips and regarded her red co-worker sardonically. "Anger you old dog! You've gone and outdone us all! I doubt any of our presents are going to top that…"

The yellow Emotion glanced at Sadness thoughtfully. "I do agree with the message on the mug though…you do have the kindest heart in headquarters Sadness! You really do!" She said with a warm smile.

Sadness blushed and looked away shyly.

Disgust was shaking her head in wonder as she stared at Anger with a shocked expression. "Wow! I really am speechless…"

A glint of respect appeared in the green Emotion's eyes and she ventured willfully, "I can't wait to see what you got for me Casanova! I hope whatever it is, it's as beautiful as Sadness' present…"

Anger gave a devilish chuckle and rubbed his hands together mysteriously. "Oh…just you wait and see…" He muttered with a look of extreme self-satisfaction on his red face.

All eyes turned to Fear expectantly as everyone waited to see what he had gotten for Sadness.

The purple Emotion wrung his hands fitfully and fiddled with his bowtie. "Huh…well I can assure you all that Anger's gift won't be outdone by me!"

He gave Sadness a nervous grin. "Feel free to open my present Sadness, but I'm sure you have a pretty good idea about what to expect…after all, I was going for something _safe_ when I picked out gifts for all of you."

Sadness smiled back at her nervous co-worker compassionately. "Don't worry, I'm sure your present is beautiful Fear…"

Fear gulped and shrugged uncertainly as he watched Sadness pull out a rather large violet-colored box from under the Christmas tree. She carefully unwrapped the present and found a lovely silk cushion adorned with images of butterflies and sunflowers.

The blue Emotion picked it up and hugged it to her chest experimentally. To her delight, she discovered that in addition to looking pretty, the cushion was nice and soft…just the way she liked it!

"Thank you Fear! I love it!" Sadness said honestly.

Then she looked back down into the box where the cushion had been and noticed that there appeared to be something else wedged inside…

Curiously, Sadness put the cushion down and reached back into the box. She started pulling at the package stuck in the bottom and after a few good tugs, she finally managed to dislodge it. As she held it up to her face and inspected the thing carefully, she soon discovered that the mystery package was actually a mattress and pillow protector set!

Disgust and Anger exchanged confused looks as Sadness held the mattress/pillow protector up for all of them to see.

"What…?" Disgust asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Wow...charming!" Anger remarked with a sarcastic smirk.

Fear felt his cheeks burning as he tried to explain, his voice coming out high-pitched from a combination of embarrassment and panic. "Well…I heard that Sadness cries a lot in her sleep…and I wouldn't want her pillow to get wet!"

Before any of the others could tease him about his rather unconventional choice of Christmas gift, Sadness intervened and spared her purple co-worker from any further embarrassment.

"Thanks Fear. I really do love your gifts…actually I think both of these can be really useful for me." She admitted sincerely.

Fear let out a relieved sigh and smiled at her gratefully.

Sadness turned and addressed everyone as she thanked them all for their gifts.

After a few moments Fear raised his hand hesitantly. "Ah…is it my turn to go next? Or does anyone want to open their gifts before me?"

Disgust folded her arms over her chest and scoffed dryly, "Well duh! Do you need eye drops too? Your stocking is next in line so that means it's your turn!"

"Urm…right…" Fear mumbled insecurely. He walked over to his purple Christmas stocking nervously and after a moment's hesitation, slid his hand inside. He felt his fingers close around a rubbery round object. Frowning in confusion, he pulled out his first gift: a small red stress ball. Written in bold black letters across the middle was the interjection **ARGH!**

Fear turned and stared at Anger quizzically.

The red Emotion had a rather pleased smirk on his face. "Well I figured since you're always stressed out, that might help lower your stress levels." He explained with a shrug.

"Huh…how _thoughtful_ of you Anger..." Fear muttered sarcastically as he turned his attention back to his new stress ball. He tried squeezing the ball to see if it would actually relieve his stress, but he quickly discovered that it had quite the opposite effect! After squeezing it a few times, his hand cramped up rather painfully and this definitely _increased_ his stress levels!

Fear sighed and put the stress ball down. Rubbing his sore hand gingerly, he noticed a flat parcel under the Christmas tree with his name on it.

Anger saw him looking at the parcel apprehensively and grinned. "I see you've noticed my other gift for you Beanpole!"

Fear stood as still as a statue. After learning that Anger had given him a stress ball for Christmas, he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to find out what else his red co-worker had gotten for him!

Anger however was getting impatient. "Well are you just gonna stare at it or do I have to give you permission to open it?!" He snapped irritably.

Fear took a deep breath and steeled himself mentally for another _thoughtful_ surprise from Anger. Then he pulled the parcel out from under the tree cautiously and started unwrapping it with trembling fingers. As he peeled the paper away, he noticed something very bright and reflective underneath…

Squinting from the glare, he held up a fluorescent yellow safety vest, complete with a matching fluro bowtie!

Fear shielded his eyes from the brightness and gave Anger another quizzical look.

Anger was starting to get annoyed at his co-worker's evident lack of appreciation for his gift choices. He glared at Fear petulantly and scoffed, "What?! Don't you like your presents Beanpole?! You're all about safety, so I thought I'd do the right thing by you and get you something that reflects your core values!"

Anger noticed the others giving him looks of disapproval. Growling with frustration, he toned down his simmering temper.

"Besides, that vest could be useful for helping me see you better at night! Sometimes when I go for a midnight snack, you're coming from the kitchen as quiet as a ghost with your cup of tea! At least wearing that, I'll avoid bumping into you from now on!" The red Emotion offered helpfully.

Fear nodded in acceptance, his voice sounding a little shaky as he thanked Anger for his gifts. Putting the fluro vest and bowtie on the sofa (where they wouldn't blind anyone with their brightness), he turned his attention back to his Christmas stocking.

He slipped his hand inside and discovered a small box that had Joy's handwriting on it.

"Oh, that's from me Fear! Wait till you see what I've picked out for you!" The yellow Emotion said excitedly as she watched Fear begin to unwrap her present.

Fear flashed her a hopeful smile. Once he'd removed the wrapping paper, he found a small leather case with a zipper around the edge.

"Oh, it's a bowtie case!" Fear observed as he inspected the leather case carefully. He pulled open the zipper slowly and discovered that the case wasn't empty…

There were two stylish silk bowties inside as well. One had gold and blue stripes on it while the other was white with a fancy pattern of blue, silver and gold woven into it.

Fear smiled as he took the two bowties out of the case and held them against his neck, testing to see how they would look with his current outfit. "Thank you Joy. These are great!"

Joy laughed graciously. "Well I know how much you love your bowties! I'm glad you like my present!"

Fear nodded and carefully put his new bowties back in the storage case. He turned his attention back to the presents under the Christmas tree again. He located a rather large box covered in light blue wrapping paper and pulled it out curiously.

Sadness watched him shyly. "That one is from me Fear. Open it next if you want to…"

Fear gave her a friendly smile. "Of course I want to open it. I'm sure whatever you've picked out is nice and safe…"

He started unwrapping the blue paper as the others looked on in interest. They all suspected that Sadness had put a lot of thought when it came to choosing their gifts and they were all eager to see what she had picked out for each of them.

Fear lifted the lid off the present box and instantly found that he liked what was inside the most so far…

The box was filled with a large variety of assorted teas, many of which he was already familiar with and enjoyed, and many others that he had never tried before. In addition to the teas, he also discovered four jars of his other favorite treat…honey!

And not just any honey either! Each jar contained an exotic honey from a different part of the world: there was honey from Australia, another from New Zealand, and the remaining two jars were from Hungary and Austria respectively.

"Thank you so much Sadness! I love it!" Fear said happily, as he admired his smorgasbord of honey and teas.

Sadness blushed and looked at her feet timidly. "I'm glad you like it."

Anger gave a bemused snort. "Hey Sadness! That Austrian honey isn't going to make him yodel is it?!"

Disgust glared at her red colleague reproachfully. "Well even if it does, you'll not only _hear_ him, but now you'll be able to _see_ him very clearly in his hi-vis safety vest!" She retorted.

"Alright everyone quiet down!" Joy urged, making a calming gesture with her hands. One by one, the other Emotions stopped exchanging insults and looked at her apologetically.

Joy turned her attention back to Fear's present and prompted, "There appears to be something else in the box…why don't you take a look Fear?"

Fear glanced down into his present box and realized that Joy was right. He had gotten so excited about his teas and honey that he hadn't even noticed it till now…

He reached down and found a nice-looking tea mug with some writing on it: _"Tea and Honey Soothes My Tummy."_

Fear smiled at Sadness appreciatively. "Thank you Sadness! That's so true…you know me well!"

Disgust cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Okay Fear! Now it's time for you to open my gifts!"

She smiled smugly to herself and insisted, "My presents might not be as fancy as some of those, but I think they're very practical and I'm sure you'll start to appreciate them over time…"

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath sassily, "What is it with mugs this year?! Are they all on special or something?!"

Fear found a sparkly green box under the Christmas tree and pulled it out in trepidation. After removing the wrapping paper, he discovered a very strange-looking thing inside. It was a long metal rod of some kind that opened like a pair of scissors, but the edges were flat and smooth rather than sharp like the cutting edge of scissors.

He held up the strange thing for the others to see, hoping that one of them might be able to tell him what it is. But instead Joy, Anger and Sadness all looked as puzzled as he was. Apparently none of them had ever seen anything like it before!

"Holy Christmas lunch! What is that supposed to be?" Anger asked as he turned to Disgust with a questioning look on his face.

Disgust sighed in exasperation. Her green eyes flashed with impatience as she informed, "Well to all of you _fashionably challenged_ around here, that thing is an Axon Straightener!"

She glanced at Fear critically. "It will help make you look taller and more elegant! It's a little bit similar to my hair straightener, but the saleslady at the store said that it has been developed especially for use on Fear Emotions! Apparently it's still new on the market and you're one of the first of your kind to get one!"

Fear listened in stunned silence to this explanation. Didn't she realize just how _sensitive_ his axon actually is?! It was apparently a thousand times more sensitive than an Emotion's fingertips, so the thought of pulling and twisting his axon to make it stand up straight filled him with a sense of dread.

Fear shook his head to clear the scary thought from his mind. He put the torture device (a.k.a. Axon Straightener) on the floor and removed a small package from inside the present box. He stared at the package in confusion before looking at Disgust for help.

Disgust slapped her forehead with her palm in frustration. "Urgh! You boys don't know anything about cosmetics and looking after yourselves!"

She pointed to the package in Fear's hand and explained, "That's a packet of facial hair removal gel! In case you haven't noticed, your face is covered in a layer of fine purple fuzz and sometimes when you get nervous it sticks out all over the place!"

Fear ran his hand over the downy texture of his face self-consciously as Disgust finished her lecture. What was he even supposed to say about that?!

Anger on the other hand, had no qualms about voicing his opinion. He flashed a teasing grin at his purple co-worker. "Way to go Beanpole! Now your face can be as smooth as a baby's butt!"

Sadness sighed dismally and felt tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

 _Oh no! They're arguing again! Just when I thought everyone was going to get along with each other for Christmas…_

Joy saw the disappointment on her blue co-worker's face and she cleared her throat authoritatively.

"Come on guys! Are you all forgetting about our Christmas promise this year? I thought we all agreed to put our differences aside and be nice to each other!"

The other Emotions all looked at the floor guiltily and mumbled apologies under their breaths.

Sadness gave Joy a tiny smile of gratitude. Joy smiled back encouragingly and exclaimed, "Good! Besides, it looks like Fear has finished opening his presents. That means it's my turn next!"

She squealed in delight and ran to her Christmas stocking with jubilation. "I'm so excited! Let's see what my first surprise is going to be…"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Well I hope you all had fun discovering what Sadness and Fear received for Christmas! I would love to hear your feedback on my gift choices for these two Emotions as it was quite challenging trying to come up with suitable (as well as some less conventional gifts for all the Emotions!)**

 **Speaking of which, in the next chapter, you will get to see what surprises Santa Clause had brought for Joy, Anger and Disgust :)**

 **But before we get to that, I'd like to update "The Curse of the Were-Disgust" as many people have been interested in finding out what happens next and we're getting close to learning the fate of the story's antagonist…**

 **Now I'd like to thank each of the reviewers to the previous chapter:**

 **Orangebird124 – Thank you so much for another insightful review. You always seem to put so much time and effort into your reviews and I really appreciate that :)**

 **RoseEmbers99 – I am so glad that you are enjoying this story my friend! Thank you for the two reviews you posted in such a short time since you started reading this story and don't worry! Fear and Anger might never become _best_ friends, but Christmas has a way of turning even the strongest of rivals into allies (to a point!) :)**

 **HollyAnne1084 – Thank you for another wonderful review and I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far. Your reviews always make me smile and feel good about my work :)**

 **Also thank you to Tripledent for being such a consistent reader to my stories. I know that you are really busy right now and I don't want you to feel pressure to review each chapter before the next update. I'm just really grateful for your support and I look forward to your feedback whenever you have the time to read :)**

 **Thanks again to everyone else who is enjoying this story and I hope you all decide to stick around and find out how the rest of Christmas Day went for the Emotions…**

 **Svinorita.**


	5. It's The Thought That Counts

**Chapter 5 – It's The Thought That Counts**

Joy was really excited to start opening her presents. The other Emotions watched anxiously as she grabbed her yellow Christmas stocking off the edge of the console and turned it upside down haphazardly. A number of small packages spilled out onto the floor with a clatter as Joy tossed the now empty stocking over her shoulder without a second thought. She picked up one of the colorfully wrapped boxes from the pile and started ripping off the paper eagerly.

Inside she discovered a multitude of fancy hair accessories. There were several butterfly hair clips and different colored ribbons as well as some sky blue strips which she recognized to be hair extensions. In addition to these, she found some sparkly hair gel and a small bottle of divine-smelling body lotion.

Joy looked up at her co-workers with a delighted smile on her face. "Oh how lovely!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

Her gaze settled on Disgust and she flashed her a broad smile of appreciation. "Let me guess…these gifts must be from Disgust!"

Disgust smiled back at her yellow co-worker and gave a dramatic bow. "They sure are and I'm happy to oblige Joy! I'm glad you like it."

Joy laughed graciously and replied, "Of course I like it! Thank you Disgust!"

Next, Joy turned her attention to the presents under the Christmas tree. She picked up a blue box that had her name on it and held it up to her face, shaking it a few times to see if she could work out what was inside.

Sadness watched her with apprehension and cleared her throat gently. "Um…Joy? Be careful! It's fragile…" She urged quietly.

Joy stopped shaking the box and looked at her blue co-worker thoughtfully. "So this one is from you Sadness? Great! Let's see what you're going to surprise me with…"

Sadness blushed and looked down shyly as Joy unwrapped the present and lifted the lid. Her blue eyes lit up with excitement as she pulled out a delicate wooden box with a golden handle sticking out of one side.

"Oh wow! A music box!" Joy exclaimed as she examined the gift with great interest. She turned the handle and opened the lid carefully as the other Emotions all looked on curiously. The tune from _Swan Lake_ filled the room as an adorable little ballerina with blue hair started twirling on a pedestal in the center of the music box, her graceful movement making it appear as though she was dancing to the beautiful melody.

Everyone listened in captivated silence. As the song ended and the ballerina stopped spinning, her tiny painted face seemed to be smiling up at Joy and in that moment, she shared a very striking resemblance to the yellow Emotion with her blue hair and happy expression.

Joy wiped a tear of admiration from her eye as she closed the music box and gave Sadness a fond smile. "Thank you so much Sadness! This is so beautiful!"

Sadness clasped her hands together and looked down bashfully. "I'm glad you like it Joy…"

"Are you kidding? I love it!" Joy exclaimed happily. "I'm sure everyone's gifts are wonderful, but I think this is going to be my personal favorite!"

The others all looked at Sadness with genuine respect. They had all been speculating that her gift choices would be some of the best on offer this year, and so far, she hadn't proved them wrong…

Joy put her new music box aside carefully and started opening her next present. She removed the purple wrapping paper and found a small round object inside. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands a few times, a puzzled look on her face as she tried to figure out what the object was. After a few moments of deliberation, she was still unsure of what to make of it, so she tried shaking it experimentally.

"Be careful Joy! You're going to dislodge the batteries!" Fear cautioned as he watched her rough-treatment of his gift with trepidation.

The yellow Emotion looked at him curiously. "Oh? And what exactly is this thing meant to be Fear?"

Fear averted his gaze from hers uncomfortably. "Well you know how I'm all about safety first Joy…" He stated with a nervous chuckle.

He gulped as he felt everyone staring at him questioningly. Still avoiding eye-contact with Joy, he explained hesitantly, "I noticed that you don't have a fire alarm in your room…so I thought you could use one…"

Behind his back, Anger face palmed in exasperation while Disgust poked out her tongue in distaste. Only Sadness remained indifferent as she stared at the floor as gloomily as ever.

Joy forced a smile and tried to look interested in Fear's fire alarm as she commended him on his thoughtful gift. "Oh…how nice. Thank you Fear!"

Fear took a deep breath and pointed out anxiously, "I also got you some of those colorful power adapters…"

Joy glanced back inside the box where the fire alarm had been and surely enough, she discovered a pack of multicolored power plugs at the bottom.

She took the packet out and thanked Fear for his "interesting" gifts with as much enthusiasm as she could. Then she put her fire alarm and power adapters aside and turned her attention to her remaining present.

"Okay…only one more gift left for me and I wonder who it's from…?" She shot Anger a playful grin and started opening a box covered in red and gold paper.

Anger had a mischievous smirk on his face as he watched Joy tearing into his gift eagerly.

The first item she pulled out looked like a snow globe. However Joy quickly discovered that the term "Fire Globe" was a far better description of the trinket. Instead of sparkly glitter, the small dome contained a miniature volcano at its center that erupted red bubbles for lava when shaken.

Joy's eyes widened in intrigue as she put the "Fire Globe" down and reached back into the present box. She found some lipstick and a magnifying mirror that distorted her face comically when she looked at it.

She glanced at the red Emotion quizzically. "Huh…? I think I'll try on some of this lipstick that _Anger_ picked out for me…" Joy commented with mounting curiosity. She uncapped the lid and started applying the lipstick liberally.

 _Why are Sadness, Fear and Disgust looking at me so weird?_ She wondered as she finished putting on the lipstick and glanced at herself in her new magnifying mirror.

Joy's expression turned to shock and she screamed instinctively as she caught sight of her distorted reflection. Her lips were an ominous shade of jet black!

Disgust was the first to recover from the surprise of seeing her bright and cheerful friend with ebony-colored lips and within seconds, she was doubled over from laughter. "Joy! You look like a goth or a punk rocker!"

Poor Joy looked mortified as she glanced into her magnifying mirror again. She saw that Disgust was right! With her choppy blue hair and black lipstick, she did indeed resemble a chick that belonged in a grunge or punk rock band. All she needed was some dark eyeliner and a spiky neck collar to complete the look.

Grimacing at the thought, she started to rub the black lipstick off with the back of her hand.

Disgust glanced at Anger and snorted, "Nice going block head! Only a boy with zero fashion sense could come up with something like that!"

Anger was looking genuinely confused. His head began to smolder as he ranted, "Huh! So much for customer service! That saleslady with the leather jacket said that it was the perfect gift to make a lady look dark and mysterious…"

The red Emotion sighed moodily and mumbled, "Sorry. I'll take it back and exchange it tomorrow if you want."

Disgust was laughing so hard that she began to hiccup. "Oh Joy! Please keep it! Just think of all the fun we can have with that lipstick on Halloween! I can make you look like the Bride of Frankenstein!"

Joy had finally managed to remove most of the black lipstick from her lips by now. She flashed Disgust a small smile and assured, "Of course I'll keep it! After all, it's the thought that counts…"

She noted the small look of gratitude that Anger gave her as she thanked everyone for their wonderful gifts with as much enthusiasm as ever.

Next it was Anger's turn to open his presents and after seeing some of the gifts the other Emotions had received, he was understandably apprehensive. He had a bad feeling that there were at least a few nasty surprises waiting for him within those innocent-looking present boxes…

After shooting a withering glare at Joy and Disgust, Anger waddled up to the console and snatched down his red Christmas stocking, only to discover that it was completely empty!

"HEY! WHAT GIVES?!" He shouted indignantly. The top of his head began to steam as he held up his empty stocking and glared at the other Emotions accusingly.

"DID NO ONE EVEN BOTHER TO GET ME ANYTHING THIS YEAR?!" By now Anger had worked himself into a fit of rage. His head was well ablaze as he threw his empty stocking on the ground and stomped on it while the others looked on anxiously.

"Um…Anger?" Joy started reassuringly."

"WHAT?!" The red Emotion roared. His short chest was heaving and his teeth were clenched as he glared at Joy reproachfully.

Joy shrank back from his fury and pointed meekly towards the Christmas tree. "It appears that all your presents were too big to fit inside your Christmas stocking, so they're all under the tree…"

Anger's expression went from pure rage to mild confusion to embarrassment as he stared at the presents under the tree. Surely enough, there were quite a few boxes there and since only he and Disgust had yet to open their presents, it seemed unlikely that ALL of those gifts were for her…

Once again, his brash and impulsive urge to rage first, think later had caused him to make a fool of himself in front of everyone! But Anger wasn't one to apologize for overacting. He was much too proud and stubborn by nature for that!

Instead, the red Emotion did his best to ignore the quizzical looks he was receiving from the others and tried to appear as nonchalant as possible. He put on an indifferent expression and casually fixed his necktie before walking over to the Christmas tree and looking over the present boxes with disinterest.

Only once he felt confident that his dignity was restored, did he proceed to show interest in his gifts. He located a box with his name written on it and dragged it out from under the tree.

To his surprise, he found that it was quite heavy and he started tearing off the blue wrapping paper purposefully. Once the paper was removed, he lifted the lid and peeked inside hesitantly as the others watched in anticipation.

Grunting with effort, Anger pulled out a large cookbook that had the title: _Spicy Food – The Key to Impressing Your Friends._

In addition to the cookbook, he discovered a tiny apron with pictures of various grilling utensils on it and a caption that read: _This Chef is HOT!_

Anger turned and regarded his co-workers with scrutiny. "Let me guess…Disgust?"

Disgust scrunched up her face distastefully. "Oh please! Like I would get you something that _encourages_ gluttony!" She remarked sarcastically.

The green Emotion shot Joy a knowing look. "Besides, Joy and I have decided to get you something together!"

Joy giggled and nodded enthusiastically at her green co-worker. Then the two Emotions turned their focus back to Anger, who was looking at his gift thoughtfully.

Slowly, a look of revelation dawned on Anger's red face and the corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile. "Of course! How could I not have seen it before? There is only one Emotion here that could come up with something so meaningful and considerate…"

He gazed appreciatively at Sadness and offered softly, "Thanks Sadness! I love it!"

Sadness' cheeks turned bright red as she gave him a shy smile and looked down coyly.

Anger put aside his cookbook and apron and proceeded to unwrap a rather large violet-colored box. Since it had been placed pretty far back under the tree, he tried lifting the box to bring it out where he could unwrap it more easily. But he quickly discovered that it was even heavier than the first present had been!

"Holy hot sauce! What's in here? A year's supply of canned beans or something?!" He mumbled as he gave up trying to move the box and quickly finished unwrapping it from halfway underneath the Christmas tree.

As it turned out, the present did _not_ contain a year's supply of canned beans like Anger had hoped, but instead something that might come in handy if he decided to eat too many spicy snacks in one night…

Inside the box, Anger found a fire extinguisher that was almost as tall as he is! The red Emotion sighed as he stared at the extinguisher and muttered flatly, "I don't even need to guess who this is from…it's got Beanpole written all over it!"

Fear blushed and started shaking nervously. "Well you _do_ need cooling down sometimes…you have a nasty habit of setting yourself on fire when you get mad and that makes you a walking hazard!"

Anger ground his teeth and narrowed his eye at his purple co-worker as Fear continued hesitantly, "Maybe I could even borrow your present sometimes to diffuse any flames that you choose to send my way…"

Fear shuddered as he recalled all the times in the past when he had inadvertently found himself on the receiving end of his fiery co-worker's blowtorch head. There was one particularly unpleasant incident that involved Anger setting his pants on fire and he still had the scorch marks on his bottom to prove it!

Anger took a menacing step towards the purple Emotion and shook his fist at him. "Oh yeah? Well I have a better idea! How about I grill you to a nice medium-rare and then spray some of that foam over you to use as frosting?!"

Fear yelped and ducked behind the others as Anger glared daggers his way. He wasn't sure if the cantankerous Emotion was joking or if he really intended to follow through with his threat! He remembered that Anger had offered to grill some steaks for the Emotions' Christmas feast this year, and he didn't fancy the idea of his hot-headed co-worker practicing his grilling skills on _him!_

Sadness sighed desolately and started to sniffle as she watched the tension rising amongst her friends. "Please stop arguing guys. I thought we promised that we were going to try to get along this year…" A loud sob escaped from her and she buried her face in her hands.

Anger stopped his tirade and looked at his blue co-worker guiltily. "I'm sorry Sadness. Please don't cry Kiddo! I'll try to control my temper a little better from now on. I promise!"

She looked up at him with teary eyes and forced a half-smile. "Thanks Anger. It would really mean a lot to me."

Anger smiled back fondly at her before giving Fear an apologetic look. "Sorry Beanpole. And thanks for the gift…I guess…"

Fear slowly reappeared from from behind Joy's shoulder but decided to remain on high alert just in case...

Anger eyed Joy and Disgust distrustfully before turning his attention to his remaining present under the tree. "I'm actually a little bit afraid to open this last box since I've been warned that it's a collaborated effort from you two!"

Disgust smirked smugly, her emerald green eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh yes my short friend. We can assure you that you are in for quite a treat…" She turned and gave Joy a delighted high-five.

Anger growled nervously under his breath and started unwrapping the box apprehensively. The first thing he found waiting for him inside was an Anger-sized Santa suit complete with hat, fake beard and large golden bell.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF REINDEER AND ELVES…?!" He yelled in disbelief.

Joy had a massive grin of admiration on her face. "Isn't it cute?!"

She pointed to the small fake Santa sitting on his sleigh near the Mind Manuals and said, "I think we can throw that plastic Santa into the Memory Dump next year! Now you can dress up and be Santa Claus for us from now on! Isn't that awesome?!"

"NO! It's not _awesome_ and I ain't doing it!" Anger declared stubbornly as he tossed the Santa suit aside and returned his attention back to his present box of horrors.

To his dismay, he discovered another piece of clothing tucked away inside and he took it out reluctantly.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!"

Joy and Disgust burst out with laughter as Anger held up his brand new pajama set for all of them to admire. The top half was a simple red and white shirt with buttons down the front. But it was the bottom half that really caused a stir among the watching Emotions…

Written in bold black letters on the backside of the gray pajama pants were the words: **TORNADO ALLEY…BEWARE OF STRONG WINDS!**

By now, Joy and Disgust were literally rolling on the floor with laughter. Even Fear was covering his mouth with a hand and snickering quietly. Sadness looked slightly less gloomy than usual, the only thing giving away her amusement being a half-smile and the fact that she was blatantly avoiding eye-contact with Anger.

Anger's head was well and truly smoldering and glowing with red hot embers as he glared resentfully at Joy and Disgust. His teeth were clenched tightly as he fumed, "Oh just you wait till next year…I will get even with you two wisecracks! I'll be sure to get you some presents you'll never forget!"

Disgust pulled herself up off the floor and wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. "I haven't had this much fun in ages!"

Then still giggling to herself, she made her way over to her green Christmas stocking and picked it up eagerly.

The first package she pulled out was from Joy and she was immediately impressed with her yellow co-worker's gift choice! It was a decorative nail art kit, consisting of six different colored nail polishes as well as various accessories such as glitter and nail stickers.

Disgust flashed an appreciative smile at Joy, who was watching her green colleague's reaction to her gift with a sense of pride. "Thanks so much Joy! This is so cool!"

"Aw it's my pleasure Disgust! I'm glad you like it!" Joy replied with a friendly smile.

Disgust's green eyes lit up with excitement as a nice idea suddenly came to her mind...

She tilted her head contemplatively at Joy and offered, "I feel like trying out your gift later on…and if you'd like, I could paint your nails as well! I think we could have a fun girls' evening together and discuss each other's gifts!"

Joy nodded and gave her friend an enthusiastic smile. "Yeah that sounds like a great idea! Of course I'd like to do that!"

"Great! I can't wait to try out some of these beautiful colors and designs!" Disgust commented as she put her nail kit aside and picked out her next present from her Christmas stocking.

Judging by the blue wrapping paper, Disgust felt rather confident that this gift was from Sadness and after seeing all the sensible presents the blue Emotion had gotten for the others, she was actually pretty excited to open this next box.

Once she had removed all the wrapping paper, she found two small bottles of perfume and a packet of lip gloss inside. Disgust took out the perfumes first and noted that one was by _Britney Spears_ and the other by _Taylor Swift._ She pulled a slightly sour face at this but out of simple politeness for her blue co-worker, she opened both bottles and took a conservative sniff. True, both fragrances were not bad, but personally they wouldn't have been Disgust's first choice if she had picked out those perfumes for herself.

Before she could say anything, Sadness piped up shyly, "The lady in the store said that those perfumes are quite popular…"

Disgust gave her a sincere smile and replied gently, "Thank you Sadness. They're a little dated by current fashion trends, but still nice."

She put the perfumes down and took out the packet of lip gloss, only to discover that it was identical to the one she had given to Sadness!

She glanced at the others and noticed that everyone was looking at her gift with mild astonishment. But no one really wanted to offend Sadness, so they all wisely chose to keep their opinions to themselves.

After all, the blue Emotion couldn't have known that Disgust had gotten her the exact same fruit-flavored lip gloss! It was just a coincidence!

Disgust shrugged and thanked Sadness courteously for her nice gifts. Then she turned her attention to the Christmas tree and pulled out a purple box. As she lifted the lid, she discovered a pair of funny-looking pink slippers with chunky rubber soles. Disgust had a feeling she knew who had given her this particular gift…

Her lip curled up slightly as she held up the slippers and glanced at Fear questioningly.

Fear cleared his throat nervously and offered, "They're supposed to be slip-resistant and very safe to wear…"

"Uh-huh…" The green Emotion uttered dispassionately.

 _Slip-resistant and very unpleasing to the eye!_ _I'm not going to walk around in these fluffy pink grandma slippers!_ She thought to herself as she put the "safety slippers" down and reached into the box again.

To her dismay, she quickly discovered that Fear's other gift for her was even less appealing than the first!

She pulled out a bottle of green-colored liquid, which on closer inspection turned out to be mouthwash! Disgust raised her eyebrow questioningly and her mouth made an _O_ shape of surprise as she regarded her "gift" before turning her attention to Fear quizzically.

Fear gave a nervous chuckle and shrugged. "Well you know how you're always throwing up when you see something gross? I thought you could use some mouthwash to rinse out your mouth with afterwards!"

Suddenly, a mild look of self-satisfaction appeared on the purple Emotion's face as he placed his hands on his hips and boasted, "I know how mouthwash can be bitter and leave a burning sensation in your mouth. But this one is 100% alcohol free! So there's no intense burning feeling after you use it! I know because I even tried some myself!"

Disgust made a grimace of distaste as she learned that not only had Fear gotten her mouthwash for Christmas, but apparently he had decided to sample some of it beforehand!

 _EW! So that means if Fear had any tiny food particles stuck in between his teeth, it's probably all floating around in here now?! Charming…_ The green Emotion mused as she put the mouthwash aside with a shudder.

She forced a smile and tried to sound convincing as she thanked Fear for his "thoughtful" gifts.

Then she turned her attention back to the Christmas tree and eyed her last present hesitantly. She had already opened everyone else's gifts so she knew this box was from Anger. She also hadn't failed to notice the way the red Emotion had been watching her with a malicious look in his eyes as she had unwrapped her other presents. In her mind, it had become undeniably obvious that Anger had an unpleasant surprise waiting for her and she was now on the verge of finding out what it was...

The green Emotion took a deep breath and after taking a moment to steel her nerves, she started unwrapping the ominous-looking present. As it turned out, her gut instinct was right and she received quite a shock when she looked inside!

The first item she pulled out was an eye cover with a set of bulging, multicolored crazy eyes that came complete with long green eyelashes just like hers!

She shot a despairing look at Anger, who had started to chuckle diabolically as he relished her reaction to his present.

"Well I thought that would help you get a better night's sleep! After all, you're always complaining about your eyes being puffy in the morning before you put on your makeup…" He pointed out helpfully.

Disgust rolled her eyes and looked back into the box. A baffled expression appeared on her face as she took out a small round cushion. It had a plush red cover adorned with images of shoes, lipstick, butterflies and flowers.

"Hmmm…and what am I supposed to do with this exactly? It's too small to use as a pillow…" She ventured uncertainly.

Anger was grinning maniacally by now. He folded his arms over his stout chest and offered, "Why don't you try sitting on it? I promise you that it's very comfortable…"

Disgust was looking at the cushion skeptically, but she decided to give her red co-worker the benefit of the doubt. She placed the cushion on the sofa and after a moment's hesitation, threw herself onto it experimentally.

A tremendously loud farting sound filled Headquarters as the inconspicuous-looking cushion, finally betrayed its true identity. Disgust shot off the sofa like a startled cat, a mortified expression on her face as she realized that revolting sound had come from underneath her!

She was opening and closing her mouth silently like a fish out of water, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at her red co-worker in utter disbelief. She pointed a trembling finger at the offending object and tried to say something, but she was literally left speechless from hearing that sound originating from under _her!_

Meanwhile Anger was rolling around on the floor and laughing hysterically. He clutched his belly as he issued loud, unflattering snorts of amusement.

Despite herself, Joy too was doubled over and cackling like a hyena as she took in her green co-worker's priceless expression. "Oh Disgust! You should see the look on your face!"

Even Sadness had her hand over her mouth as she chuckled to herself quietly. "This is almost as funny as that movie where the dog dies…"

Fear meanwhile had taken cover inside Santa's sleigh over by the Mind Manuals. He couldn't see what was so funny about this situation! He was terrified of loud noises (among countless other things…) and the sound of the whoopee cushion going off had almost made him jump out of his skin! He peeked out nervously from behind Santa's shoulder, his whole body shaking so violently, that he was making the sleigh rock from side to side!

Disgust was slowly beginning to recover from her shock. After a while she finally managed to convince herself that she hadn't really produced that despicable sound; it was just the stupid whoopee cushion!

She glared at Anger petulantly, her emerald-green eyes filled with indignation as she screeched, "SERIOUSLY ANGER?! A WHOOPEE CUSHION?! THAT'S REVOLTING!"

Anger could hardly speak as he wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and struggled to get to his feet. "Only the best for you my lady!" He wheezed.

As another bout of laughing came over him, he wound up choking on his drool and his delight turned to panic as he started coughing desperately.

This at least served as some kind of consolation for Disgust, and she placed her hands on her hips and watched Anger in the throes of a full blown coughing fit with a smug expression.

 _Ha! Serves you right Wise Guy!"_ She thought to herself as Anger's head began shooting flames spastically after every cough, his eyes bulging even more than Fear's.

She waited patiently until her red co-worker's coughing subsided. Anger grumbled something peevishly under his breath and started fixing up his necktie sheepishly.

Disgust gave him a taunting look and remarked smugly, "You know what? I think I actually like your gift Anger!"

She picked up the whoopee cushion and threw it on the floor. It gave a half-hearted fart as it hit the ground before Disgust lifted her foot and stepped on it deliberately a few times, resulting in a series of rapid-fire farts as the air inside the cushion was compressed.

"This could come in handy the next time you're trying to read the Mind Reader and you want some peace and quiet!" She shouted over the irritating noise.

Anger gritted his teeth and gave her the _"you-wouldn't-dare!"_ look.

The others all gathered around Disgust as she stopped playing with her whoopee cushion and admired the rest of her gifts with a pleased expression. Even Fear had climbed out of Santa's sleigh and walked over to the group now that the flatulent cushion was finally silenced.

Joy beamed happily and addressed her co-workers with her usual upbeat manner. "Okeydokey! It looks like everyone is pleased (more or less) with their presents and even if some of the gifts were a little off the mark, remember that it's the thought that counts!"

The others nodded and mumbled in acknowledgement as each of them looked over their gifts again.

Joy admired her own collection of presents. After a while she called for everyone's attention and announced cheerfully, "Let's get these gifts up to our rooms and then we need to start preparing the food. All that excitement works up quite an appetite and I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!"

The other Emotions agreed and one by one, they started carrying their gifts back to their rooms.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **As the countdown to Christmas continues, all the presents have been opened. Some of them were wonderful, some practical and safe, and others may have fallen into the category of "WHAT THE…?"**

 **I'm pretty sure most of us have received some of the latter during some point in our lives, and with big smiles of our faces, we would have said "Oh! I've always wanted one of these!"** **(Only to re-gift them next year!)**

 **There are two more chapters to this story, and I will try to get one more posted by Christmas (which will be the Emotions' Christmas feast.)**

 **I'll let you all enjoy your Christmas and the final chapter will be posted shortly after that...**

 **Now to the important part, thanking my reviewers!**

 **First of all thank you _Orangebird124_ (after all, it's your request!) Thank you for another beautiful and detailed review! This was another of your wonderful suggestions and it's always a pleasure to write for you my friend! I hope you enjoyed those little TearBrick moments as those two are really flirting up a storm :)**

 **Thank you to _RoseEmbers99_ for your lovely review which I value very much! I can tell you that a few of my stories are nearing completion. Then I can start writing your request, which I'm really looking forward to (We're going to have fun with that Brickoli, just you wait!) Thank you for being patient and waiting, I really appreciate it :)**

 **Thank you _HollyAnne1084!_ My sweet young friend, your review always brings a smile to my face! I hope you enjoyed a bit of LemonLime friendship, and I will be sure to include some Nervous Tears for you in the final chapter :)**

 **Thank you to _StarNerve!_ You really do have an eye for detail, which doesn't surprise me from such a skilled and accomplished writer! I am so glad you started to write again :)**

 **And last but not least, thank you _Tripledent!_ You absolutely amaze me! As I mentioned to you before, I script all my chapters in advance and I had most of this story planned out about three weeks ago. Then I almost fell out of my chair when I read your last review! Anger as Santa?! As you can see, I already had the others give him a little Santa suit! But wait, there is more! Sometimes I wonder if you can actually read my mind :)**

 **And lastly, thank you to all the wonderful readers around the world for taking the time to read my story! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it :)**

 **Svinorita**


	6. Christmas Feast

**Chapter 6 – Christmas Feast**

This year, the Emotions had decided to bring the dining table out of the kitchen and into the main room for their Christmas lunch. That way, they could be closer to the console and monitor Riley whilst simultaneously enjoying their feast.

Not that anyone believed that Riley would need to be monitored very closely today…

While the Emotions had been busy unwrapping their presents, they could hear their young host exclaiming how this was the best Christmas ever as she delighted in the gifts her parents had gotten for her.

Now as the Emotions were making their final preparations for their festive lunch, Riley and her parents were doing the same and it quickly became apparent that she would be requiring very little intervention from her Emotions today. But all of them liked the idea of being close to the console, just so they could keep an eye on their girl all the same.

Another reason why the Emotions had all agreed to move the table into the main room, was so they could enjoy the panoramic views of Riley's Islands of Personality while they ate. As an added bonus this year, they could also enjoy listening to some of their favorite Christmas carols throughout their lunch!

Apparently whoever had organized the Yuletide choirs in the Mind World this year had decided that the carols shouldn't just be restricted to Christmas Eve. Instead small choir groups of Mind Workers had been stationed in front of several of the Islands of Personality, and they took it in turns to sing Christmas carols all throughout Christmas Day and into the night. It was almost as if the beauty of music and the hope within those lyrics was helping to unite the Mind Workers and bring the whole Mind World closer together in the spirit of Christmas.

Whatever the true reason behind the caroling marathon this year, Joy was very happy with the new trend. As she stood by the window and watched the small bands of Mind Workers singing their hearts out, she hoped that it could become a permanent Christmas tradition here in the Mind World.

Out of all the Emotions, she appreciated music the most! In fact she even joined in with the singing whenever she recognized the words to any of the carols as the sweet and uplifting voices of the Mind Workers below filled Headquarters with a pleasant and cheerful soundtrack all day.

By lunchtime, the dining table was overflowing with food. Each Emotion had brought along their own culinary offering to the Christmas table just as they'd promised during their pre-festive preparations earlier in the week.

Now with all that food laid out before them, everyone was feeling hungry and they couldn't wait to start getting stuck in!

Within a few minutes, all five Emotions had taken their seats at the dining table and begun to help themselves to the smorgasbord of food on offer.

Surprisingly, it was Sadness' roast chicken that turned out to be the most popular choice at the Christmas table this year!

Fear in particular couldn't get over how tasty it was! As the purple Emotion helped himself to another mouthful, he turned to Sadness who was sitting on his right and gave her an impressed nod.

"What did you do with this chicken Sadness? It tastes divine!" He praised admirably.

Sadness shrugged and replied with a disinterested sigh, "Well I just roasted it…"

Fear looked at her expectantly, his expression clearly indicating that he was waiting for her to elaborate on her answer. Instead, the blue Emotion just stared at her plate of food gloomily before she proceeded to chew on a drumstick half-heartedly.

Fear raised his eyebrow at his dismal colleague and prompted, "I know that. But did you happen to use any marinade on it or something…?"

"Oh…" Sadness tapped her chin thoughtfully before responding without enthusiasm, "Yeah, I think I used honey and soy marinade on it…"

Fear nearly choked on a piece of chicken at this announcement. His eyes widened in revelation and a huge smile appeared on his face as he declared, "Of course! That explains why it tastes so heavenly! I knew I could detect traces of honey in this!"

Some of the other Emotions decided to be a little bit experimental and try food that they wouldn't normally eat this year…

Disgust took a few tentative nibbles of Anger's spicy bean salad, the red Emotion watching her with barely disguised anticipation the whole time. She pulled a grimace of distaste as she forced herself to swallow a tiny bit of the unpalatable side dish, and it took all her willpower to try not to barf it up within seconds of it going down!

Even Fear against his better judgement, decided to ignore the queasiness inside his stomach as he took a small bite of Anger's steak out of goodwill and respect for his co-worker's efforts. However, the moment he swallowed the tiny piece of grilled meat, he regretted it as he already felt his body reacting negatively to the heavy meal. His face turned pale and he began to sweat profusely and that's when he knew without a doubt that he was in for a nasty case of indigestion sometime tonight…

Despite their aversion to Anger's cooking, both Fear and Disgust couldn't help noticing the hopeful expression on their colleague's face as he watched them trying his food.

"So…how is it?" The red Emotion ventured hesitantly.

By now, both Disgust and Fear were looking decidedly ill, but somehow both managed to force smiles of false appreciation and reply, "Oh…it's delicious…"

In return, Anger himself even tried some of Fear's fruit salad (which he ended up swallowing with great difficulty, his face showing obvious signs of strain not unlike someone who was trying to swallow a large stone!) But keeping to the festive spirit and goodwill around him, the red Emotion winced and forced a false smile as he replied, "Not bad Beanpole…"

Meanwhile, Joy and Sadness showed no reservations towards any of the food. Throughout the festive lunch, both Emotions eagerly and wholeheartedly sampled a little bit of everything that was on offer and neither made the slightest complaint.

Once the main courses were finished, everyone was looking forward to dessert, and the mouthwatering chocolate cake that Joy and Disgust had prepared together was an instant hit all round! Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Disgust herself who wound up eating most of it…

In fact she had been very conservative during lunch and ensued that she had left plenty of room for what she considered to be the most important meal of the whole feast!

XXX

By the time Christmas lunch was over, everyone was feeling well and truly stuffed! Yet despite all that the Emotions had consumed, there was still heaps of food left and now the discussion around the table turned to what should be done with the leftovers…

Disgust sat back in her chair, her arm resting across her belly as she eyed the remaining food contemplatively. "We're going to be eating those leftovers for weeks! Just look at all that food!"

Joy's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement as a thought came to her. She shot a brief glance at Sadness before suggesting optimistically, "Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could take some of these leftovers to a few less fortunate Mind Workers later on!"

Her smile grew broader as she gazed out the back window, the voices of the caroling Mind Workers filling her heart with appreciation and Christmas cheer as she prompted, "After all, some of our little friends down there have been singing for almost 24 hours now!"

Joy gestured to the food and explained, "There's no way we could eat all of these leftovers before they start to turn bad…just think of how happy we could make those Mind Workers by giving them something in return for their labor! Some of the poor little guys probably can't even afford to have a Christmas lunch and if we can help brighten up their day a little, then isn't that what the true meaning of Christmas is all about?!"

The other Emotions nodded silently in agreement.

Sadness looked up at her yellow co-worker with a little smile of appreciation that really touched Joy's heart and convinced her that this was the right thing to do.

"I was hoping we might do something like that..." She admitted quietly as Joy returned her smile fondly.

"Thanks Joy." The blue Emotion whispered softly.

Anger shrugged and gave a massive yawn. "I suppose we could, but right now I need a nap…"

He patted his belly and closed his eyes contentedly. "I'm too stuffed to move at the moment! We can take the food to them tonight but right now I need time to digest."

Fear had moved to the sofa by the console to be away from the others. He grimaced in pain and pressed a hand against his stomach as it gurgled loudly. He knew he shouldn't have eaten that steak! Now he had developed a serious case of indigestion and on top of that he was feeling exceptionally gassy…

"Would you guys mind if I stay at the console? I'm not feeling so good…" Fear groaned as another loud rumble from his stomach made him flinch instinctively.

He rubbed his tumultuous tummy before continuing sheepishly, "I'm paying the price for eating some things that I've never tried before and now my system is in shock."

Anger opened his eyes and regarded his purple co-worker thoughtfully. After a few seconds he surprised everyone in the room (including himself!) when he suggested amicably, "Ah, don't worry about it buddy! I know what it's like when your stomach wants to pick a fight with you…"

He jabbed a finger at his chest for emphasis and stated, "Happens to me all the time!"

He got up from his chair with a grunt and grinned at Fear wryly. "Leave it to Uncle Anger! I've got some heartburn and indigestion tablets in my room that could fix you up in no time!"

"If you want, I could go and get some for you?" He offered helpfully.

Fear looked unsure of how to respond. He wasn't expecting _Anger_ of all Emotions to sympathize with his discomfort, much less offer to help him! Another wave of nausea rose into his throat and he swallowed it back feebly. Finally Fear gave a desperate groan and nodded meekly. He was willing to try anything to soothe his traumatized digestive system right now!

"Thanks bud- I mean Anger!" He acknowledged hesitantly.

Sadness and Joy looked at each other with raised eyebrows before dismissing Anger's surprising show of compassion towards his long-standing purple rival with approval. They were relieved that everyone was getting along so well today and it was especially nice to see Anger being so considerate towards Fear for a change, rather than losing his temper and yelling at his purple co-worker to stop whining and just tough it out!

As Anger went to get some indigestion tablets from his room for Fear, Sadness glanced at the floor shyly and ventured, "Um guys? I'm feeling really sluggish. The past few days have been so tiring and I think I need a good rest…"

She felt her cheeks burning as Joy and Disgust looked at her curiously. Taking a deep breath, the little blue Emotion asked in a quiet whisper, "Is it okay if I stay here with Fear while the rest of you take the leftover food to the Mind Workers later? I don't have the energy at the moment and I think if I went, I'd just slow all of you down."

Joy smiled at her blue co-worker and nodded in understanding. "Of course you can Sadness! I'm sure Fear wouldn't mind to have someone keep him company and help him monitor Riley at the console."

Fear glanced at the others with a pained expression and shrugged half-heartedly. "Well, if you really want to Sadness…that's up to you I guess…" He trailed off and hid his face from the blue Emotion before she could notice him blushing.

Joy elbowed Sadness playfully as she confirmed, "Disgust, Anger and I can take the food to the Mind Workers together."

She felt a soft tap on her shoulder and turned to see Disgust smiling at her warmly. "Before we do that Joy, I was thinking of trying out the present you got me."

"Oh?" Joy smiled fondly as she recalled the nail art kit she had gotten for her green co-worker as a Christmas present.

Disgust regarded Joy thoughtfully. "And if you don't mind, I could paint your nails as well? Think of it as my way of showing you how much I appreciate your gift!" She offered keenly.

Joy laughed lightheartedly. "Of course I don't mind! Go ahead and make my nails pretty!"

Disgust looked very pleased with herself. Her emerald-colored eyes glinted with delight as she suggested eagerly, "Great! And you know what else? How about I bring along my new nail art kit when we take the food to the Mind Workers? Maybe you could help me paint the nails of some lady Mind Workers out there?"

She smiled broadly and declared, "I really enjoy making girls look pretty and feel great about themselves!"

"Oh not at all! That's a really nice idea and I'm sure the female Mind Workers would like being pampered for a change!" Joy agreed happily.

She turned around to face the others just as Anger returned with the indigestion tablets for Fear.

Suddenly, Joy had a wonderful idea and she couldn't help chuckling to herself as she watched the red Emotion give the heartburn and indigestion tablets to Fear, who stared at Anger nervously before accepting them without uttering a word.

"Hey Anger!" She called out shrilly, making the red Emotion flinch and grumble something under his breath as he turned and glared at her irritably.

Joy was unperturbed as she asked willfully, "Why don't you wear your new Santa outfit when we go to the Mind World? I bet there's lots of little Mind Worker kids out there who would love to see Santa today!"

Anger glared daggers at his yellow co-worker. A wisp of smoke rose from his head as he snapped stubbornly, "I told you before, it ain't going to happen!"

Before Joy could think of a response, Sadness stepped forward and gave Anger the puppy dog eyes. Her voice began to tremble as she pleaded quietly, "Please Anger? Think of how sad those poor little kids are down there. Many of them didn't get to have Christmas lunch or presents because their parents couldn't afford to get them anything…"

She sniffled and looked away from Anger's hard stare gloomily. "You could really help make their Christmas special if you pretend to be Santa and just say something nice to them…"

Sadness' speech had a profound effect on everyone in the room. Joy brushed a tear from her own eye as Disgust looked at the floor sadly.

Over at the sofa, Fear felt his eyes beginning to tear up as he chewed on one of Anger's indigestion tablets (although whether this was as a result of Sadness' heartfelt plea, or the unpleasant taste of the bitter heartburn tablets, nobody knew for sure.)

Even Anger looked down guiltily as his blue co-worker's words struck a chord with him and he felt his stubborn heart melting with remorse.

Finally, the red Emotion gave a long sigh of defeat and refused to make eye-contact with anyone as he relented, "Fine…I'll do it! But only because it means so much to you Kiddo…"

Sadness stopped sobbing and flashed him a tiny smile of gratitude.

Disgust was looking at her blue co-worker with genuine respect. "Wow Sadness…have you ever considered taking up a job as a motivational speaker?!"

She pointed to Anger and expressed, "If you can get through to that tough nut, then you can convince anyone to do anything!"

Anger growled at the green Emotion petulantly. Suddenly a sly smile tugged at his lips as he nodded to Disgust and provoked devilishly, "While we're at it, I think Disgust ought to bring along her whoopee cushion. That way she can demonstrate to the little kiddies what happens when someone overindulges on the Christmas feast!"

Disgust crossed her arms and glared at Anger sarcastically, "HO! HO! HO! Very funny Santa!"

With that, all the Emotions decided to take a short break before preparing for their charity act for the less fortunate Mind Workers. Joy followed Disgust into her room to get her nails painted by her green co-worker like she promised.

Anger stomped off moodily to his room to change into his new Santa Claus outfit while Sadness stayed behind in the main room and started wrapping up the leftover food and putting it into small Christmas hampers for the Mind Workers.

Fear curled up on the sofa and hugged a pillow to his midsection tightly as he closed his eyes and waited for his tummy ache to pass.

 _I hope I never have to see another steak for as long as I live…_ He thought to himself dismally as he tried to fall asleep, praying that he wouldn't be having nightmares about grilled meat…

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **I would like to thank _Orangebird124, HollyAnne1084, T_ _ripledent and RoseEmbers99_ for your wonderful reviews. Thank you guys! Your reviews mean a lot to me :)**

 **I would also like to wish all of you a wonderful and safe Christmas (those of us here in Australia have already sampled our Christmas feasts!)**

 **And for the rest of you around the world who are still waiting for your presents from Santa, I hope you have a happy day with your loved ones :)**

 **Hopefully you'll all join me later on this week for the last chapter of this Christmas adventure!**

 **For now, Merry Emotional Christmas to you all :)**

 **Svinorita**


	7. The Magic of Christmas

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **We've reached the end of this Christmas story and I hope you all enjoyed spending Christmas with the Emotions this year! Now I'd like to take the time to thank the following reviewers for your wonderful support throughout this story:**

 **Orangebird124 – Thank you so much for sharing another of your wonderful suggestions with me! It was a pleasure to write this request for you!** **You always come up with such creative story titles and I love how much effort and detail you put into your reviews! You have always been so understanding and helpful and done so much for this Fandom :)**

 **HollyAnne1084 – Thank you Holly my little Fandom sister, for all your sweet reviews not only for this story, but for all my others too! Your reviews always make me smile and I am so happy that I got to know you and call you my friend. You have really been a great support to me on my Fanfiction journey and I wish you all the best in your future :)**

 **Tripledent – Thank you for all the inspiring reviews and continued support my friend! Your reviews really are out of this world! Sometimes it almost feels like you can read my mind as many of the suggestions you share in your feedback are consistent with the ideas I plan for my stories. I feel like you are my mind twin and you have a wonderful way with words :)**

 **RoseEmbers99 – Thank you for your reviews and I am really glad I found you on this Fandom! You are such a sweet and wonderful person and your reviews match your personality! I look forward to writing your request and working with you in the future :)**

 **LionesssQueen – Thank you for showing your support! Your reviews go straight to my heart and just like Tripledent, you have a wonderful way with words! Your feedback is inspiring and it encourages me to write more and more :)**

 **StarNerve – Thank you so much for the review! I feel very honored to receive feedback from such a skilled and established author like you. I am glad that you have decided to start writing again and I wish you lots of success in any future stories you may write :)**

 **Also thank you to all the silent readers around the world for going on this Christmas adventure with me!**

 **Now let's get on with the final chapter and find out how the rest of Christmas Day went for the Emotions...**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – The Magic of Christmas**

A few hours later, the Emotions regrouped in the main room after enjoying some rest and down time. Disgust and Joy both had beautifully painted nails, (which they were very eager to show off to everyone else!) Disgust had even brought along her nail art kit so she could decorate the nails of the female Mind Workers when they set out to help spread the Christmas cheer to the less fortunate inhabitants of the Mind World.

As Joy and Disgust chatted away happily and admired their artistic skills, the grumpiest Santa in the world made his appearance when Anger stomped into the room dressed in his brand new Santa Claus outfit. With his hat and long white beard covering most of his face, all that was clearly visible was Anger's frowning eyes as he stood before his amused co-workers with his golden bell in hand.

"Oh Anger! You look so cute!" Sadness commented shyly.

Disgust and Joy nodded and tried their hardest not to laugh as the red Emotion growled and muttered something under his breath.

Disgust raised her eyebrow thoughtfully at grumpy Santa. "Even I'm tempted to sit in your lap Anger. You look so authentic!"

Anger glared daggers at her as Disgust added mockingly, "And if I'm too heavy, I'll lend you my whoopee cushion so _you_ can demonstrate to the Mind Worker kids what Santa really thinks of his job..."

Joy glanced out the window and noticed that it was getting quite late in the afternoon. "I hate to interrupt your fun guys, but we better get a move on! I want to be back here before the fireworks start! I heard that the staff at Dream Productions are organizing something spectacular this year!"

After making some final preparations, Joy, Disgust and Anger set off to donate their leftover food to some of the underprivileged Mind Workers, leaving Sadness and Fear behind to look after the console.

XXX

Fear woke up from a fitful nap shortly after the others had left. Thankfully, he hadn't had any nightmares about steaks! But to his dismay, he discovered that his stomach still hurt. Unfortunately Anger's indigestion tablets hadn't helped all that much.

The purple Emotion groaned and slid off the couch listlessly. He decided that he needed to make himself some mint tea since he knew that mint was supposed to help soothe an upset stomach. And right now his stomach wasn't just upset, it was inconsolable!

"Are you okay Fear?"

Fear gave an instinctive shriek of alarm as Sadness' soft melancholic voice interrupted his thoughts. He whipped around and saw that the blue Emotion was sitting on the far side of the sofa, watching him with concern in her eyes.

 _What is she doing here?! Wasn't she supposed to have gone with the others on their charity expedition to the Mind World_?

Suddenly he remembered that Sadness had asked Joy if she could stay here and rest while the others went out.

Fear gave his blue co-worker a sheepish grin. "Oh Sadness! Sorry for that little outburst! You just startled me…"

"I'm sorry…" Sadness apologized and looked down guiltily. "I won't bother you if you want to be alone…"

"Oh not at all! I don't mind your company Sadness…" Fear assured her hastily.

He winced as another sharp pain came from his belly before adding, "I was just going to make myself some mint tea. Anger's tablets helped for a little while, but my tea works best when it comes to digestive problems."

Sadness gave him a timid smile and nodded.

Fear smiled back and said quietly, "I think I'll use that new mug you gave me as a present…"

He gave a nervous laugh as he remembered the message written on the mug and added, "After all, it seems very appropriate given my current situation!"

Sadness blushed and whispered, "Could you make me some tea as well? I want to try the new mug Anger got for me. It's very beautiful…"

"Of course." Fear replied amicably as he headed into the kitchen to prepare their warm beverages.

While she was waiting for him to return, Sadness started feeling a combination of nostalgia and contentment at the same time. This Christmas had turned out better than she ever hoped it would and the whole experience filled her with a sense of awe.

 _I don't know what's happening, but everything is just so beautiful and magical! Everyone is being so nice to each other…or at least trying to be!_ She sighed dreamily. A warm feeling flowed through her heart as she reminisced about everything that had transpired over the week leading up to Christmas.

 _I feel like we are finally a true family! Not just a bunch of individual Emotions co-existing together as we go about influencing Riley's day-to-day life…_

For Sadness, Christmas wasn't about the presents or the food or the decorations. For her, the greatest Christmas gift of all was the unity and love that came out of this special day, as well as the generosity of helping out those in need and making them feel valued for once in their lives…

A short time later, Fear returned with two mugs of mint tea for them.

"Here you go Sadness." He offered her the mug that Anger had gifted to her and sat down beside her with his own brand new mug.

"I never enjoyed making tea this much!" Fear stated with a nervous chuckle. "I even used some of the special tea and honey you gave me as a present..."

Sadness smiled as she inhaled the scent of the warm steaming tea in her mug before taking a cautious sip. "It's not bad…" She remarked timidly.

Fear snorted in amusement as he took a sip from his own mug. "It's very good actually!"

"That is the tea you picked out as a present for me, not my tea-making skills!" He corrected sheepishly.

He blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

Sadness glanced at her purple co-worker admirably and offered, "Your tea-making skills are great Fear! I don't think there's anyone here who could make tea better than you…"

Fear looked at her gratefully and nodded as he sipped his tea quietly. Already his tummy had settled down quite a lot and he was in a much friendlier mood overall.

After a few seconds of silence, Fear turned to his blue co-worker and whispered, "This was one of the nicest Christmases we've ever had Sadness."

He reached out hesitantly and put his hand on top of hers fondly. The unexpected contact caused Sadness to gasp in surprise and she looked at him with a startled expression. Fear recoiled slightly from her gaze and took his hand away quickly.

He looked down in embarrassment and mumbled, "Sorry. I just feel like I should say thank you for making all this goodwill possible…"

This time, it was Fear who was surprised when Sadness placed her hand on top of his and squeezed it gently.

"It's not just me…we all did it together." She corrected softly.

Fear gazed into his co-worker's deep blue eyes thoughtfully. She gave him a tiny smile before removing her hand and turning her attention back to her tea.

Fear smiled back fondly and nodded in agreement. He gave a deep sigh of contentment as the two Emotions resumed drinking their tea in silent reflection.

XXX

A couple of hours later, Anger, Disgust and Joy returned to Headquarters feeling very pleased with their charitable work in the Mind World today. Anger in particular was in an uncharacteristically upbeat and merry mood upon his arrival!

In fact, both Fear and Sadness received quite the shock as their usually foul-tempered co-worker strolled up to them looking as jolly as Father Christmas himself, his amber-colored eyes glinting with pride as he began recounting his experience to them.

"Wow! I've never been so popular in my life!" Anger exclaimed as he took off his fake Santa beard and hat and grinned at his awestruck co-workers enormously. "Those Mind Worker kids really thought I was the real deal!"

He gazed at Sadness and Fear with a humbled expression on his red face. "You should have seen the smiles on their little faces! Everyone wanted to sit in my lap and take a picture with me!"

He shook his head slowly in wonder and uttered, "I've never felt so appreciated and loved in my entire life! It was amazing…"

Joy gave her red co-worker a pleased smile. "You see what happens when you're nice Anger? Maybe you should try it more often."

The smile melted from Anger's face and was instantly replaced with a withering scowl. "Ha! Not on your life! I have a reputation to maintain here!"

He waved his fist at her menacingly and warned, "Don't you get all touchy-feely on me or else you'll be sorry!"

Joy sighed and shrugged in defeat. "Well it was good while it lasted…"

Disgust tugged at her arm excitedly and the yellow Emotion turned to face her friend. "Oh Joy! Did you see how happy all those girls were after I decorated their nails?! And they loved our chocolate cake so much!"

Disgust's eyes lit up with pride as she confessed, "I've never felt so appreciated before! This was the best Christmas ever!"

Joy laughed in agreement. "Yeah, I probably won't be able to talk tomorrow after all that singing along to the carols…"

She held up her hand and examined her sore fingers gingerly. "My fingers have actually gone numb from playing my accordion so much!"

Just then, Dream Productions commenced their spectacular fireworks display and all the Emotions hurried to the back window eagerly to watch. As they admired and oohed and aahed at the beautiful explosions of color dancing across the evening sky in the Mind World, all five stood together in comradeship.

Disgust was at the far right and she lightly looped her arm around Fear's skinny shoulders. In turn, Fear placed his hand gently on Sadness' shoulder as the little blue Emotion held Anger's hand. Joy stood at the far left, propping her elbow on Anger's squat head, which earned her a growl of irritation...but keeping true to the Christmas spirit, Anger begrudgingly allowed his yellow co-worker to use his head as an armrest. (Just this once!)

After a while, Sadness whispered graciously, "Thanks guys…this really was the best Christmas we ever had!"

Joy nodded eagerly. "I agree Sadness! In fact let's make it like this every year from now on!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and the five Emotions remained standing together as they watched the fireworks long into the night.

* * *

 **Note:**

 **We've come to the end of this Christmas saga. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved writing it! But alas, all good stories must come to an end eventually…**

 **But before we go, I'd like to wish all the wonderful and amazing people on this Fandom a Happy New Year! I hope your days will be safe (that's my Fear talking!) and full of happiness and laughter :)**

 **For those of you who dare to dream, may your dreams come true and I hope you all decide to rejoin me next year because I have many more stories I'd like to share with you all :)**

 **Maybe some new authors will be inspired to join the Fandom and start writing too? Even if this Fandom might not be as popular as it used to be, I still believe that it is Emotionally awesome and I am honored to be a part of it :)**

 **Svinorita**


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